Death of an Angel
by Shinova
Summary: Urashima Keitaro has mysteriously passed away on Christmas morning. And now, one week later, a supernatural visit sets Naru on a quest for the truth, a quest that may bring even more sorrow to Hinatasou. (COMPLETE)
1. Disclaimer

**D I S C L A I M E R**

I claim no ownership of _Love Hina_. The series belongs to TV Tokyo and Ken Akamatsu. If there's anything else here that belongs to someone else, then due credit to them.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this story.


	2. Chapter 1

**Death of an Angel**

By, Shinova

Chapter 1

"Who's there!?"

"It's me, Kitsune."

"Oh, hello Kitsune-san."

Kitsune walked out onto the patio, followed by Su-chan. She watched Motoko take a few practice slashes at the air before turning her gaze up to the sky. The stars shone brightly in the black-blue sky, like thousands of shining candles. The view was beautiful. If only the mood of Hinatasou were the same.

* * * * *

This year's Christmas party was an especially festive one. Kitsune got herself drunk very quickly and had managed to get Keitaro and Naru drunk as well. Even Motoko was consuming more than her usual share of alcohol. Sarah and Su were dashing all over the living room, spraying confetti everywhere while Shinobu served delicious chocolate chip cookies.

Somewhere along the way, Keitaro had decided that he had done more than enough partying for the night.

"God, I drank so much. I'm gonna call it a night for now," he announced, standing up on shaky legs.

"Aww, Keitaro! So soon?" Kitsune whined, trying to feed Keitaro more sake, which the ronin kindly refused.

"Yeah, Keitaro! It's only three in the morning!" Su added.

Keitaro shook his head and said, "Sorry, but I'm really out of it right now. Good night, everyone!"

"Good night!"

With that, Keitaro went to his room. For the rest of the tenants the party went on like normal. Occasionally one of them would leave to go to the bathroom, but other than that the party was still in full swing. It was only when Sarah came running back into the living room, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath and her face deathly white, that the whole party atmosphere came to a sudden halt. A terrible silence permeated the room as Sarah told them.

"Ke-Keitaro! There's something wrong with him!"

* * * * *

Kitsune could remember what happened after that, one week ago, as if it were yesterday. She and everyone else were dashing toward Keitaro's room while Sarah, between panting breaths, said something about Keitaro convulsing and his face an unnatural blue. The residents of Hinatasou burst into the kanrinin's room a few moments later. There, lying on the floor, was Keitaro, his skin pale. He did not move. There was no pulse.

Keitaro had died. And with him went all semblance of happiness in Hinatasou.

Kitsune drowned herself in sake. Motoko trained nearly every hour of every day. Su's personality went from its usual care-free hyperactiveness to a solemn, subdued one. And the same for Sarah. Mutsumi took walks to nowhere, her gaze fixed on the ground in front of her. Because of this, she ran into objects repeatedly, and took no notice of them, keeping a same detached, expressionless look on her face the whole time. Shinobu reverted to something resembling her old self: depressed and almost completely silent, dragging through her day-to-day chores in a robotic fashion. Even Tama-chan was left unspared by Keitaro's death. Nowdays she spent her time alone, wandering aimlessly through the halls of Hinatasou. Naru, on the other hand...

Kitsune broke from her thoughts and gazed to her left toward Naru's room, which was completely dark--as it had been for the whole week. Kitsune sighed as she remembered her best friend's actions and behaviors on and after that fateful day.

* * * * *

The doctor left the emergency room and into the waiting room. Sitting there were the residents of Hinatasou. The doctor could almost feel the waves of worry flowing from them, and his anxiety level took another leap upwards. Perspiration formed on his forehead. He was relatively new to the business and this was the first time he would do this sort of thing. It was no walk in the park.

"Uh, I'm...I'm sorry to tell you....Our efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. Your friend, Urashima Keitaro, has passed away."

A collective gasp went up around the waiting room. A long five seconds passed. Then Shinobu flung herself into Kitsune's embrace and cried her heart out, her wails of misery muffled by Kitsune's jacket. Kitsune tried her best to comfort the young girl while struggling to do the same for herself as her own sobs made themselves known. Mutsumi replied with her trademark "Ara ara," but with an expression of horror etched onto her pale face. Even Motoko had twin streams of tears flowing down her cheeks, trying to hide them behind a hand to her forehead. The same could be more or less said for the other residents in the room--except for one.

In the leftmost seat inside the waiting room sat Naru, whose empty eyes stared ahead into empty space as she took the news in. She then lowered her head, her hair hiding her face, as her fists clenched tightly until the knuckles went white and blood seeped from where the nails had pierced the palms.

Her shoulders began to shake.

"No....That's not true....Can't be true...."

"I'm sorry miss," the doctor said, "but he's been dead--"

"NO!! It can't be true! It _can't_ be!"

Naru dashed from her chair and knelt in front of Su. She took the girl by the shoulders and shouted, "Am I right, Su-chan? He can't be dead! He's _invincible_! You said so for yourself!"

"N-Naru," Su said. "But--"

"But what!?"

"B-But the doctor said so. Keitaro's de--"

"_Liar_!!" Naru stood up to face everyone. "You're all lying!! This has got to be some stupid, perverted joke that idiot's playing! You _idiot_!!"

Naru dashed toward the emergency room, shoving aside everyone who stood in her way.

"You perverted idiot! This joke's not funny anymore!" Naru yelled as she burst into the ER, where an aide was just about to finish zipping up the white body bag.

Naru pushed the aide away from the table, sending the poor man flying through a wall. She jumped onto the operating table and ripped open the bag with her bare hands to reveal the pale face of Keitaro underneath. She reached down and grabbed the deceased ronin by the throat, bringing his face up to hers.

"Wake up, you pervert! This isn't funny anymore! _Wake up_!!"

Keitaro replied with a silence only the dead could give. Tears trickled down Naru's face to splash on the deceased ronin's. Her grip relaxed as she gazed down through tear-filled eyes at her former study partner.

"K-Keitaro....Why won't you answer me?" Naru pleaded in a shaky voice. "Is there something you won't tell me? Did I do something wrong? Did I? Please....You promised to go to Toudai with me, didn't you? Didn't you!? _Answer me_!!"

Naru began shaking the dead body once more. Tears flowed freely as she screamed incoherent words at the face below her, eyes frantically searching for a spark of life...to prove once again that Keitaro was invincible.

A pair of security guards followed by a few aides dashed into the room and pulled Naru off the table. They began to drag the hysterical girl kicking and screaming out of the ER.

"NOO!!! Wake up, you pervert!! ANSWER ME, KEITARO!! _ANSWER ME_!!!"

One of the aides came up behind Naru with a tranquilizer in his hand.

"_COME BAACK_!!!!"

* * * * *

The Hinatasou residents carried an unconscious Naru back to the dorm. From that morning forward Naru locked herself in her room, coming out only to use the bathroom. From what Kitsune could see during the times she went outside Hinatasou, Naru also kept her windows and curtains shut all day and night, blanketing her room in darkness, ranging from slight during the day to complete during the night. Every day the other residents would take turns leaving a tray of food and water outside the door for Naru. When they came back for the tray it would sometimes be empty...and sometimes not.

Kitsune sighed and turned her gaze from the closed shutters of Naru's room back to the skies overhead. Somewhere, up there in that dazzling display of light, was Keitaro, looking down at them. That thought brought only small joy to her depressed heart.

On the second day after...what had happened, Kitsune had volunteered to go see Naru. No one visited her again after that.

* * * * *

"Naru? It's me, Kitsune. I'm coming in now, okay?" Kitsune announced before carefully opening the door to Naru's room. Thank God she had chosen to do this during the day, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to spot Naru sitting against the wall, her eyes gazing forward into empty space.

Kitsune entered the dark room, closing the door behind her. She approached her friend and kneeled down next to her.

"Naru?" Kitsune said softly.

Naru gave no reply, her eyes devoid of emotion, her face slack and her mouth slightly open. This worried Kitsune a bit, and she lifted one of Naru's arms and felt the wrist. The beating pulse and a quick examination of the rest of her body told Kitsune that her friend had not attempted suicide...yet.

"Naru, are you okay?" Kitsune asked. "Talk to me, Naru. Do you need anything?"

Naru was still silent. Kitsune sighed, her spirits sagging as she lowered her head.

"Naru, it's been two days and...well....Yeah, I can't and am in no position to say how you feel but that doesn't mean you should hurt yourself like this. Please, Naru."

Still nothing.

"Please, Naru. I don't think Keitaro would've--"

At the mention of Keitaro, Naru's eyes widened. Kitsune's spirits lifted when she saw this. _Finally, some progress_....

"Naru?" Kitsune asked...and was suddenly flung backwards.

"Hey! What the--" Kitsune stopped when she saw Naru, who was standing and glaring at her. Kitsune got back onto her feet and backed away. "Hey, Naru, I didn't mean to--"

"Get out."

"Huh? Wha--"

"I said _get out_! _GET OUT_!!!"

Naru began grabbing anything nearby and throwing them at Kitsune, who threw open the door and backed out into the hallway.

"Hey! Calm down, Na--" she stopped when Naru began to lift the table into the air. Kitsune saw this and ran down the hallway as fast as her legs could carry her. Nothing followed her, except for the tortured screams.

* * * * *

Kitsune remembered that a shadow of some sort had fallen over Hinatasou that day. The rest of the tenants had gone through the day in a fearful state, listening to the sounds of destruction as Naru went through everything in her room like a hurricane, sometimes throwing furniture--or _pieces_ of furniture--out her window. Eventually the violence had stopped, but the screams and wails had gone on for at least another half-hour before going silent.

All the tenants, even Kitsune herself, had worked outside to clean up the broken furniture, all the while giving fearful glances at Naru's darkened window from time to time. Thankfully there had been no more furniture taking flight that day...and no screams either.

After that, no one was courageous enough to actually go into Naru's room. Of course, they left meals in front of her door but that was all they could find the strength to do.

And now one week had passed since Keitaro's death and it was New Year's Eve. Soon to be New Year's Day, once the minute hand on Kitsune's watch hit twelve.

"Hey, Kitsune. Aren't the stars pretty?" Su-chan asked as she hopped onto the railing. Kitsune noticed that the younger girl lacked her usual vitality when doing her jump. Instead of an excited leap it had seemed mellow...tired, even.

"Yeah, they sure are," Kitsune replied as she turned her gaze skywards again.

Motoko stopped her routine and walked over to stand by Kitsune. She turned her eyes to the skies as well.

"Legend has it that when someone important died, they would--"

"Become one of the stars and look down at us, watching over us, right?" Kitsune interrupted Motoko.

"Yes, but how did you know?"

"Well, I guess you can call it a cliche, but stories like that--about people being in the stars after they're dead and all--are pretty much universal. I can't think of any one culture that doesn't have at least one of those star stories."

"Even my people have it!" Su piped up.

"See? Something the world can share, don't ya think?" Kitsune said, turning to Motoko.

Motoko was looking elsewhere, as if preoccupied with something. "Kitsune-san. Have your parents ever told you ghost stories?"

"A few," Kitsune replied, "but I never really believed them anyway...or I don't believe them now. Why?"

"It's just that ghosts are also common ground among different people. I have been told ghost stories before, and now I believe them."

"Why?"

"That's why!" Motoko pointed. Kitsune and Su turned to look and nearly died from fright.

A dark figure was gliding towards them through the air, the trees parting in its path. It floated closer until it was only a few meters away from the terrified residents, then stopped in midair.

Kitsune, trembling from fright, stared at the figure shrouded in darkness, and broke out into a nervous laugh. 

"Hahahahaha! Some ghost! It's probably just that silly boy, Keitaro, playing a joke on us!"

"Um, Kitsune-san?" Motoko said.

"Oh yeah." Kitsune remembered that their kanrinin was no longer of the living world.

"Well, it's a ghost, and I've got the perfect thing for it!" Su said, whipping out another of her gadgets. "My very own Ghost-Vacuum! I'll suck you up and just dump you off for the garbage men to pick up!"

Su advanced with her Ghost-Vacuum and the figure pulled back. The shroud over its features began to lift.

"Su-chan! Wait!"

Su stopped. The shroud of darkness lifted completely to reveal a _very_ familiar person underneath.

"Ke-Keitaro!!?" the three girls exclaimed as one.

Indeed it was Keitaro, wearing what he had been wearing at the Christmas party, face a bit pale and his expression blank. He raised a pale hand towards the residents. 

Suddenly a bell somewhere jingled loudly, and the ghost froze. A moment later he floated backwards, the shroud of darkness pulling over his features, and drifted back into the white mist. Down below, on the Hinatasou grounds, the three old men gazed up at where the ghost had been. The lead man put away his bell and the three disappeared with the fog.

* * * * *

The room was dark, its curtains closed, blocking out the light from the stars. Furniture lay in pieces all over the floor. Among them were shredded books, some mutilated beyond recognition. The walls themselves had small craters where the room's occupant had punched them in fury. Only a Liddo-kun doll remained unscathed, but it was evident that the room's owner had casted it aside and left it amongst the debris.

As for the owner herself, she was nowhere to be seen. The board covering the hole on the floor was gone however. That hole was one known by all the residents of Hinatasou as one of the most prominent sources of the chaos that went around the dorm from each day to the next. It had also been a source of cherished memories for the late kanrinin.

The kanrinin's room was silent, fitting for the room of a dead person. But if one listened very closely, the sound of sobbing could be heard through the curtain of silence. It was coming from a futon in the center of the room, or rather from someone in it.

Naru lay there, curled up under the futon's covers. The tears had long gone dry and Naru was unable to shed any more. So she lay there, still able to sob, as the pale light from outside poured through a small opening in the curtains. And where the light shone was an open photo sticker book, the one belonging to Keitaro. Naru would flip through the pages slowly, staring for minutes at a time at each photo before moving on to the next. When she was finished with the last two photos, she would close the book and cry, hugging the photo book to her chest, her wails muffled by blanket as she wrapped it around herself.

When she was done crying, Naru would open the photo sticker book and gaze at the photos again, softly caressing a few of them. She would finish, cry for a while, then look through the book again.

And again...

And again...

And again...

* * *

Author's Notes:

I hope you enjoyed my first chapter. I intend to finish this fic (I hope), and will be putting forward updates as often as I can. And thank you SO much for the wonderful reviews! They've been a great boost for my confidence. Now all I have to do is to make another chapter as good as this one....Easier said than done, of course.

Anyway, I would like to thank everyone once again for reading and reviewing. Until next time! ^_^


	3. Chapter 2

**Death of an Angel**

By, Shinova

Chapter 2

The morning of New Year's Day would typically be a festive one. Whether it was one filled with new resolutions or simply a day to look forward to a whole new year, it would be happy in some way. And it had been this way for generations, throughout the world. A day to leave the pain of past wrongs behind and to start anew. A day for people to get up, pick up the pieces of their lives, and spend the rest of time putting the pieces back together, usually to create a new picture--hopefully one that would be better than the previous.

The residents of Hinatasou seemed to be getting this done. They no longer seemed as despondent and listless as before. Old routines and habits were slowly being regained, but each of them knew that the truly good times were forever out of their reach, and that the future held no equal. With that in mind, time seemed like a gentle current carrying each Hinatasou resident to the next hour. So surreal, everything seemed, that they often could not recall what they had been doing just a moment ago. Everything was like a dream...a dream born from a week-old tragedy, sitting in the back of everyone's mind like a jagged tree in the middle of a desert. A tree shredded by a malevolent lightning strike into a lifeless husk. One sore spot in a plane of emptiness.

Everything was like a dream. One could only wish that the dreadful event had been the same. Sadly, fate seemed to enjoy playing arbiter to what was dream and what was reality. And most of the time, the worst things were reality. And now the wake of that reality's passing carried everyone along.

Towards where? Who knows? That's for the future to tell.

* * * * *

"Breakfast's ready! Sorry it took so long."

"It's no problem, Shinobu. We just got here."

Shinobu set the dishes while the rest of the tenants took their seats around the table. There were no sad faces, no sluggish dragging of feet as one sat down at the table. Everyone seemed to have gotten out of their individual phases of depression. Life had taken its first step toward a return to normalcy.

"There, everyone," Shinobu said after setting down the last plate.

"Well then, let's eat!" Su added.

And so the first breakfast of the new year began. After a minute had passed, each resident realized that none of them had spoken a word since. This discovery was unnerving, but its cause was identifiable. Normally Naru would've sent Keitaro on a flight over Hinata--most likely due to another of Keitaro's accidental groping of Naru's breasts or a similarly male-forbidden part of her body. Now, with the table devoid of their presence, all that was left was a feeling of emptiness, of something missing.

None of them had ever really stopped to consider how much of an impact their former kanrinin had on their everyday lives. Exactly what difference he made, that was unknown. But the gaping hole, that missing essential element, spoke volumes about the _size_ of that difference.

"By the way, how's Naru?" Kitsune asked.

"I brought her dinner yesterday, and she ate it so I guess she's still with us," Shinobu said.

"She shouldn't stay in her room for so long. It's unhealthy," Motoko added.

"Maybe we should do a Cheer-Up-Naru party!" Su piped up.

"Should we try to talk to her again?"

In the uncomfortable silence that followed, all thoughts turned back to that frightening day. Flying furniture....The screams of fury....

"Nah," Kitsune said. "I think we should give her some time to simmer down first."

"Good idea, Kitsune-san," Motoko agreed.

"Well, I have to say that even though everything's been real hard on us, and I mean _all_ of us," Kitsune said, directing the last part toward Motoko, who nodded slightly, "we still have to live on. I know this sounds really corny, but I think Keitaro would've wanted us to live on with our lives, and not mope around forever."

"That's right!" Su spoke up. "We shouldn't be so sad all the time! Instead, we should have parties every night, go to Kyoto again, watch movies, play games, eat bananas--"

"Calm down, Su-chan. We can't do all that every day, no matter how much we'd like to," Kitsune interjected. "But yeah, we shouldn't mope around, that's for sure."

Shinobu, who had been quiet for the whole time, spoke up.

"I think so too. I mean, Sempai was always so nice to us, even though he sometimes was a pervert...sometimes. So I think we should, you know, not make his death..." she said, struggling to find something to fill the last part.

"Taste bad?" Su spoke up.

"Uh, yeah, not taste bad. I think." Strangely enough, Su's sudden suggestion actually fit well.

"I have always considered Urashima a weakling. And he still was one, all the way to his passing," Motoko spoke up. "But what redeeming qualities he had are enough for him to deserve a peaceful journey to the afterlife. We should honor that. Find strength and live on."

"Whatever the reason, we're still alive, so let's enjoy that. Right?" Kitsune stated.

"Right!" Everyone agreed.

"Awfully cheery this morning, are we?"

The new voice halted everyone in their actions. Five pairs of eyes drifted slowly across the room to land on the figure standing in the doorway.

"N-Naru-sempai!"

"Heya Naru! Finally bored of staying in your room all the time?"

Indeed it was Naru. She was dressed in simple pants and long-sleeved shirt, both black. Her prolonged isolation had taken its toll on her. Naru's hair had an unhealthy look to it and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her skin was paler than usual and her figure had thinned a bit as well.

"Damn! It's a good thing you got out of that room!" Kitsune exclaimed, eyes surveying Naru's haggard appearance. "You really need to get out more often, you know."

"Nah. I've been out for way too long in my life," Naru replied dryly. She took her place at the table but saw that she had no breakfast.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry Naru-sempai! I'll get you something right away!" Shinobu exclaimed, jumping from her seat and dashing toward the kitchen.

"It's okay, Shinobu-chan; no harm done. We've got plenty of time anyway."

No one touched any more of their food until Naru had gotten hers. They all remembered the day Naru had gone nuts and destroyed everything in her room. A few, such as Kitsune, actually found themselves holding their breaths as Shinobu made her way from the kitchen with the plate in her hands. When Naru finally picked up her chopsticks and started on her food, the room's other occupants visibly relaxed--considerably--and resumed eating.

"Um, this might be a sensitive subject, but are you still going for Toudai?" Kitsune asked.

Naru thought about this for a moment then answered, "I don't know."

This response had an immediate effect. A clatter of chopsticks was followed by a collective, "WHAAT!!?"

Motoko recovered first and asked, "But Sempai, I thought you made a promise with--"

"Seta-san? Keitaro? Both?" Naru replied without looking up from her food.

"Uh, that is--"

"Like I said, I don't know. I might decide to go for Toudai, or I might not. I might decide to go home, or I might just stay here. Whatever the choice, it won't be easy. Besides, no one likes to make a decision they'll later regret," Naru said. Then quietly she mumbled, "Or regret not doing something..."

"What was that?" Kitsune asked.

"Nothing Kitsune," Naru replied. "Simply, absolutely, completely nothing at all."

The Hinatasou household continued eating, and went through the rest of breakfast in silence.

* * * * *

Kitsune walked briskly down the hallway, Motoko and Su following a few steps behind her. The whole week had glided rather than passed by. Alone, floating on her back in the center of a swimming pool, drifting aimlessly, nudged gently by the soft currents, the water lapping lightly against her sides. Those experiences at swimming pools were what the week's passing had seemed like to Kitsune. Just slow and gentle...alone in the pool with nothing from the outside world to bother her, to remind her that like everyone else she had to keep up with the pace of the world...or fall behind.

And now suddenly, walking briskly down the hallway, followed by Motoko and Su, Kitsune felt an overwhelming sense of urgency. She had plenty of time. Everyone had plenty of time. The whole world had plenty of time. And yet, this feeling of urgency was compelling her, driving her to go faster.

"Kitsune-san," Motoko called out from behind her.

Kitsune halted and turned to face the other, who pointed to a door to her right and said, "This is your room."

"Oh, whoops. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," Kitsune apologized and led the two into her room, closing the door tightly behind her. Motoko spoke up first.

"So, Kitsune-san, why are we here?"

"Remember what we saw last night?" Kitsune replied.

"You mean the ghost?" Su asked.

"Yep. Now then...what should we do about it?"

"I would normally suggest exorcism, but since it is the ghost of Keitaro..." Motoko said.

"Exactly. What about you, Su-chan?"

Su thought for a while then replied, "Like Motoko said. It's Keitaro."

"Alright. Now I have an idea..."

The other two leaned forward with curiosity. Kitsune took a breath before speaking.

"I think we should tell Naru."

"Naru-sempai? Why?"

"I think Keitaro was trying to tell us something that night, and who better than Naru, who's been the closest to him out of all of us."

The other two thought about it for a few moments.

"Kitsune-san," Motoko spoke up. "May I remind you that Naru-sempai has not exactly been herself this past week."

"Yeah, I know," Kitsune agreed, shivering at the memory. "But there's a good side to this also, you know. Maybe what Keitaro tells her might help her be her normal self again."

Motoko nodded, a hand to her chin. "That is also true."

"So then, are we in or not?"

Motoko and Su each slowly raised a hand and nodded.

* * * * *

As soon as she had finished her breakfast, Naru had headed back to her room. She closed the door behind her and turned around to view the room before her.

Naru had been quite thorough in her "efforts" to lay waste to her room. This was the first time she was able to look at her room with a relatively clear mind. The destruction fazed her not one bit.

The pale walls, their blankness staring back at her emptily; the broken and disorganized furniture, arranged around the room like a symphony; the shredded books, their pages rendered meaningless. The whole room was obviously in disarray--Naru knew that of course. She had committed this act of wrecking her room in an aimless manner, but now, as she looked at its results, they seemed almost as if some higher fate had guided the destruction without Naru's consent--into a form that, even in such a state, reflected something about the world that Naru could not quite pinpoint.

But no matter. Her room was destroyed, and she had no remorse over that. She walked a bit further into the room, calmly kicking a piece of furniture aside. She reached over and picked up the Liddo-kun doll, gazing at deeply.

"Ten years...ten years I've had this doll. What are you to me now?" Naru murmured. She then put down the doll and walked up to the closed windows. With one hand she flung them open, letting in air and sunlight that the room had not seen for a long time.

Perhaps the room could now enjoy the light and air. But for Naru all still seemed the same. The grounds outside Hinatasou still looked the same as it always had. Yes, a shadow could be said to be hovering over Hinatasou, but for everything else things were still like normal--as if nothing wrong had happened at all. As it always had been, no matter where, or when.

Naru walked away from the window and abruptly came face to face with herself, reflected in the mirror leaning against the wall. She kneeled in front of it and reached out with a finger, tracing the reflection's face.

"Who are you?" she whispered, staring at a face she did not recognize--one she had just met for the first time. Anger suddenly filled her and she turned away from the mirror. She stood up and gazed around the room again--the room that had been hers for years but now seemed alien to her.

There was only one thing worthwhile to do right now. Naru lowered herself down through the hole in the floor and into the room below this one. Upon entering the room she was struck with a sense of reverence for this room she had never had before.

"Keitaro..." she whispered into the air, gazing around the room with unwavering precision, taking in every detail, sometimes spotting one or two things she had never really noticed before. She walked over to the dresser and opened it, fishing around inside until she pulled out a blue sweater, one that Keitaro often wore. She gazed at it deeply, holding it close to her.

"Keitaro," she said softly. "Why did you have to..."

Naru looked away as a tear threatened to roll down her cheek. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then turned her eyes upon the sweater again.

"Keitaro, I'm so sorry. I...think I took you for granted, and now look what happens. God, I'm such an idiot....Anyway, everyone's doing fine, I think. We haven't chosen the next kanrinin yet but Haruka-san is subbing for a while.

"Keitaro, I don't think I would ever have thought of saying this before, but things are so different now. Everything's not the same, it's all weird."

Naru thought about what she had been saying so far and saw that she had been making little sense at all. She giggled softly and said, "Listen to me, I'm making no sense at all. Maybe if you were here I wouldn't be so...so...I don't know....I don't think I know anything anymore."

Naru clutched the sweater closer to her and closed her eyes, sighing.

"How could the world do this to you? You did nothing, just stumbling your way to Toudai and being a pervert sometimes. But why? Why did...everything do this to you?" Naru said, her body trembling. Her eyes suddenly shot open, a vehement look in them. "Well who cares about the world anymore. Everyone's just skipping through their lives, just fine and dandy, like the blind idiots they are. They just don't..."

Naru paused, sighing. She swallowed down a lump in her throat and went on, talking to Keitaro's sweater.

"Everyone truly is blind, Keitaro. They're just fine and happy with everything the world has given them, and they can't see through their blindfold...or whatever it is they've put over themselves or whatever rock it is they've hid themselves under.

"The point, Keitaro, is that I was like those stupid people, so single-minded, always talking about getting into Toudai. And now you're gone and the world just seems so...empty now. People...heh...if they're that content with nothing, then they're nothing. To hell with them. I don't care. I just..."

Naru shut her eyes and hung her head, sighing deeply. There was an aching in her heart. It was dull, but it was like a stonecutter chipping away at a mountain. Slow and steady, but always there and wearing her inner being down bit by bit with every chip. How she wished it would just consume her like a raging firestorm and end everything right there and then...but no, the world didn't work that way--and it loved every stab the stonecutter made into the mountain.

Naru opened her eyes and stared at the sweater in her hands. She then hugged the sweater tightly, breathing in the scent. She closed her eyes.

"I just wish that you were here," she whispered. "I would let the world burn if that's what it takes to bring you back. I miss you, Keitaro....Please come back..."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Naru's eyes opened slowly and she put the sweater down. "Who is it?" she called out.

"It's me, Kitsune. Can we come in?" the voice from outside the door said.

"Who's we?"

"Me, Motoko, and Su-chan."

Naru thought for a moment, then got up from where she had been kneeling on the floor.

"Alright, come in," she said.

The door opened and Kitsune, Motoko, and Su entered the room. Su closed the door while Kitsune approached Naru, looking like a child about to break some bad news to a parent.

"Naru, there's something I want to tell you about," Kitsune said.

"Really?" Naru replied, gazing at her friend with a calm, detached demeanor as the latter spoke.

"Yeah, it's about something the three of us saw last night."

"Last night, I see. If I remember correctly, it was New Year's Eve, right?"

"Yeah it was."

"Hmm..."

"Naru, about the New Year's party we held last night--I'm sorry that we left you out."

"It's alright. I think I've lost all taste for New Year's Day. Or for any holiday for that matter."

Naru turned around and walked up to the window.

"Kitsune," Naru said as she gazed out at the scenery outside. "Did you know that twenty percent of the world's people have eighty percent of all the wealth in the world?"

Kitsune stopped for a moment, a bit surprised at the sudden change in topic. "Yeah, I know--"

"Yep," Naru interrupted. "One happy family--big brother looking out for little brother, never mind that little brother's toys all belong to big brother. Yep. One nice, happy, loving family."

Kitsune scratched her head, wondering what the hell Naru could've meant by that. Su looked on with slight interest. Motoko stood rigidly, eyes fixed on the figure standing at the window, a dark silhouette bathed in sunlight.

Naru suddenly seemed to remember something and turned around. "Oh I'm sorry," she said. "You were here to tell me something?"

"Right," Kitsune said. "Now I'm going to tell you something that you might not believe, but you've got to trust us, okay?"

"Sure."

"Alright, here it is." Kitsune took a deep breath, then let loose. "We saw Keitaro's ghost last night."

For a full five seconds Naru stood there, frozen, her eyes wide open, staring into space. Kitsune was about to wave a hand in front of the other's eyes when two hands shot out and grabbed her by the shirt, pulling her close to the hands' owner.

"Where? _Where?_ Tell me!" Naru exclaimed, holding Kitsune closer to her.

"H-Hey! Naru, I--"

"_Tell me!!_"

"Okay, okay, but calm down first!" Kitsune stammered, silently hoping Naru didn't become violent toward her.

Naru's trembling hands stayed in their positions, locked onto Kitsune's shirt, for a few more seconds before gradually relaxing. Naru shuffled backwards a couple of steps and hung her head.

"Where did you see him?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"We saw him outside, at the patio. At midnight," Kitsune replied.

Naru stood there, head hung low. Then she spoke again in a quiet voice. "So he'll be there again tonight?"

"I don't know for sure, but...yeah I think so."

Naru nodded and waved at the door. "Thanks for the news. You can go now."

"Are you sure you don't need anything? Or maybe it might be nice if you--"

"You can go now," Naru repeated in a firmer tone of voice.

"Okay, Naru, we're going." Kitsune and the others quietly but hastily left, closing the door behind them, leaving Naru alone in the room. She waited until she could no longer hear the three's footsteps in the hallway outside. Naru walked over and picked up the blue sweater, holding it to her chest. 

She was going to see Keitaro tonight. 

And yet, even as the prospect of meeting him again filled her with joy, as if a shining light had pierced the walls of her heart and filled it with its warmth, a sad shadow reawoke from its week-long slumber and dampened her spirits, crushing them under the weight of memory and reality.

The last time she had taken anything for granted had been from one week ago. She could not, absolutely could not, make that same mistake again.

* * * * *

Kitsune, Motoko, and Su each held a pair of binoculars to their eyes, watching the black figure standing alone on the patio, gazing out at the near-midnight sky.

"So..."

"Yes, Kitsune-san?"

"Any of you two think this'll go well?"

"I would hope so."

"Yeah...me too."

_I wish you luck, Naru,_ Kitsune thought. _Out of all of us, you deserve it the most._

* * * * *

Naru sighed deeply and gazed out at the starry sky above. She could see, in her mind's eye, a boy and a girl studying together in a room...a boy and a girl walking home together...a boy and a girl drinking through a party together...always a boy and a girl...always together...the boy stumbling into the bath and getting hit by the g--

"No..." Naru whispered, shutting her eyes and clenching her fists, trying to keep those memories down. In the deep, dark waters of her soul she tried to drown them, keep their pain away. But the memories would not give up. They learned to swim and broke through the surface, assaulting her heart and cutting another deep swath on its tender surface.

Naru sank to her knees, her eyes welling up with tears, a trembling hand over her gaping mouth. 

_How could she...why did she...wasn't his fault...accident...why..._

Of course, the girl was Naru and the boy was Keitaro. Back then it had seemed only right to smash Keitaro through walls or dropkick him into the atmosphere. But that had been in the past...when Keitaro was still alive...

Now he was gone...gone forever. Naru had heard the word _regret_ before but had never known what it truly meant until now. The meaning she could see within the dark, murky waters of her soul, waters churning and bubbling with the pain of missed opportunities and wrong choices. All this was her fault--and in the shadow of the event from one week ago she could now see the truth, unblinded by light. That it had never been his fault. Never.

But tonight she was going to see him.

That thought compelled Naru to wipe her tears away and stand up straight once more. Tonight she was going to apologize--apologize for all the times she had acted without thinking--for all the times she had pushed him away--for all the times she had thought of him as nothing but a pervert and a bumbling idiot, when in reality he was a much better person than she could ever be.

_I'm the real idiot here. Not him. Never was him. Always me..._

"Narusegawa..."

The voice jolted Naru back to reality. She looked up...and there he was. Keitaro. A bit pale and faded out--and floating in the air--but looking the same as he had when he was alive.

Naru's mouth hung open and her arms went limp. After a few seconds, during which Keitaro hovered in the air, scratching his head sheepishly, Naru finally raised a trembling hand and pointed a finger at the ghost.

"Ke...Ke...Ke..." Naru tried to say.

"Yeah, it's me. Urashima Keitaro, former third-year ronin and now a ghost. And we have to talk, but not here," Keitaro said. He then began backing away, motioning for Naru to follow. "Come'on. Follow me," he called out.

Naru saw Keitaro gliding away toward the forest and panicked.

"Wha? Keitaro, wait! Wait!!" Naru yelled. Her first impulse was to jump over the patio railing to follow him but stopped herself. Wouldn't do any good for her to die before speaking with Keitaro.

Instead, she turned around and ran down the patio stairs, taking several steps per leap. She ran down the hallway, went down another flight of stairs, then jumped off the second story and onto the ground. She looked up and saw Keitaro flying farther and farther into the distance.

"Wait!! Keitaro, please! Wait!!" Naru yelled desperately, getting to her feet and running toward the forest, never loosing sight of Keitaro as he flew on.

The cold wind whipped past her face and the shadows around her seemed to want to leap and smother Naru with their darkness. She paid them no attention, the same way she ignored the growing pain in her legs and lungs. 

Now in the forest, she ran on. Like a beacon of light, Keitaro flew deeper into the woods, a figure of light surrounded by darkness. One beacon of light, standing tall in the middle of a desert of shadows, under a sky of darkness. One beacon, all alone, in the midst of everything. And Naru ran on, despite the pain in her legs and her lungs dying for air.

Several minutes into the forest, Naru saw that Keitaro had stopped and she stopped as well, collapsing onto her knees, chest heaving for breath. Perspiration dripped from her face and her breath came out in puffs of white, visible in the cold air.

"Sorry about the long run," Keitaro said, floating down until his feet touched the forest floor.

Eventually, after a minute, Naru regained her breath and got up to her feet. She saw Keitaro walking toward her and prepared to give her apology speech. She did not expect Keitaro to trip over a tree root and end up with a hand on her breast.

Immediately the anger emerged inside Naru. She closed her eyes, her face scrunched up in fury. She raised a fist and said, "Keitaro....You die and you still act like this!!"

She lashed out and smashed her fist into Keitaro's face, sending him crashing into a tree. Naru stood there, breathing heavily from anger, then suddenly stopped, her eyes snapping wide open. She gasped at the realization of what she had just done.

"Oh no...I did it again..." she whispered. Her wide eyes fell to the forest floor, a hand over her gaping mouth. The memories surfaced again as her thoughts ran rampant.

_Oh God, it was just like all those times before..._

Keitaro slid down from his man-shaped crater in the side of the tree.

_I got angry again. And I was supposed to apologize to him, not...oh God, why..._

Keitaro got to his feet and approached Naru.

_I'm such an idiot! I saw him trip over the root and I still blame it all on him! It was an accident--an ACCIDENT!! And still, I lose control! Why! Why, why, why, WHY!!!?_

"Uh, Narusegawa?"

_Keitaro came all this way from the afterlife to speak to me--a worthless, stupid, violent girl. He was so right about me being a violent girl. Stupid, worthless me..._

"Hello?"

_I don't deserve this. I don't deserve him coming all this way just for an idiot like me. I should just stay cooped up in my room, drowning myself in self-pity and depression. Yep, that's what's best for me..._

"Hey!"

Naru snapped out of her trance at Keitaro's voice. "Oh, uh, umm...yeah?" she stammered.

"I was wondering when you'd snap out of it," Keitaro said. "Good thing that you're back. Oh, and I'm sorry for--"

"No! You've got nothing to be sorry for! I'm the one at fault!"

"Uh, what?"

"Keitaro, I..." Naru's throat constricted and she shuffled around nervously. This was going to be harder than she thought. "I, um....I'm sorry...for everything..."

"Eh?" Keitaro could not believe it. Naru was apologizing to _him_ of all people? "Sorry? For what?"

"For hitting you all those times!" Naru almost shouted out, making Keitaro jump a little. She hung her head, choked back a sob, and went on. "It wasn't your fault--just accidents. But I still hit you all those times when you deserved none of it. I kept thinking of you as a pervert and an idiot, but I had no right to!

"And I'm sorry that I wasn't at least a friend to you." Naru sighed, her body trembling. The walls of her heart cracking. "I'm sorry. I hope that you can forgive me."

Keitaro gazed at Naru, almost taken back by the difference of personality. The old Naru would have given him no slack in dealing out punishment for what he had just done a while ago. Sure, she had punched him into a tree, but to apologize like this afterwards? It was difficult for him to take in.

"Narusegawa...you don't have to apologize," he said.

"B-But I--"

"Really. Yeah, I was a little annoyed in the beginning but afterwards it was just...it was okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah. I got used to it. After it happening every day," Naru cringed at this, "it was just...like something I go through daily."

"That's exactly it!!" Naru suddenly exclaimed, grabbing Keitaro's shirt and pulling his face up to hers. "I made it an everyday thing when I shouldn't have!! I had no right to do that to you! I..." Naru lowered her head. "I really am at fault, Keitaro. Believe me, I am."

Keitaro looked at his former study partner, and saw a person totally different from before, when he had been alive. He smiled softly and laid a hand on Naru's shoulder, gripping it gently. "In that case, I forgive you," he said.

"What? You...you forgive me?"

"Yes, and I'm being honest when I say that it's really nothing. I didn't mind it at all during the few months before I died. Since a long time ago, in fact. So it's alright. I'm just glad to see you."

"You're..." Naru slowly lifted her head to look at Keitaro with tear-filled eyes. "You're really happy to see me?"

"Yep. Happiest thing that's happened to me all week."

Naru's expression went from sad to super-sad. She began sobbing and the tears ran freely.

"_Waaaahh!!_" she wailed as she buried her face in Keitaro's chest, wrapping her arms around his torso, startling him. "Why are you being so nice to me!!?"

Keitaro stood there dumbstruck as Naru cried her heart out, wailing and sobbing. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her and held her gently.

"Shh...it's okay. Everything's going to be okay," he said softly, doing his best to comfort Naru.

In the middle of the forest, surrounded by darkness, a boy from the afterlife held a girl of the living in his arms. The walls of the girl's heart had broken and all the sadness and regret from the past few days came rushing out. The boy did his best to make the event as smooth as possible for the girl.

Naru had found the beacon of light--and now, crying her heart out, she let go of all the dams holding the dark and murky waters back, letting the lake drain out. In the arms of Keitaro she cried her soul out, in tears and sobs, in a beacon of light in the middle of a world of darkness.

Eventually her sobs died out, the hurt in her heart having been drained more or less fully. She separated from Keitaro and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"Thanks, Keitaro," she said, a small smile on her face.

"You're welcome," Keitaro replied, his spirits lifting at the sight of the smile.

"So how's the afterlife?"

"Well, I've gone to heaven, and it's...pretty good I guess. It's not like temples in the clouds or anything but...well, it's alright."

"Just alright? It's heaven, you know!"

"I know it's heaven, but it won't be all heaven for me until all the rest of you are with me."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah." Keitaro nodded. "That's how much I miss you."

"I see." Naru looked down, smiling. Just making small talk in the forest with Keitaro was like salvation for Naru, after all the hell she had gone through before.

"Oh and I--please don't get mad--but you know how I tend to have...'accidents?' "

Naru thought about it for a while then realized what the "accidents" were. She nodded and replied, "You mean like how you peek or grope me all the time?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, by the way."

"No, it's alright."

"What? You mean you don't mind anymore?"

"I never said that," Naru said, quickly turning around to hide her face, which was blushing fiercly. "So, go on."

"Oh yeah. I ended up accidentally stumbling into a women's bath for angels. You can imagine how that ended up." Keitaro grimaced upon remembering a few of the things the angels had unleashed upon him in retribution. Like divine versions of Naru's punches.

Suddenly he remembered why he was here.

"Whoops! Narusegawa, I came here to tell you something and the sooner I get it out the better."

"Sure, what is it?" Naru asked, turning around to face Keitaro again.

Keitaro sighed then spoke. "I just wanted to tell you the truth, nothing more. It's gonna be a bit alarming, so are you ready?"

Naru took a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay," Keitaro said. "I didn't just die. I was murdered."

All color drained from Naru's face. "Oh my God," she gasped.

"Poison, through my right ear. And it was by someone living in Hinatasou. That's the scary part."

The word _murdered_ rang through Naru's mind over and over again. She fell to her knees, her head lowered, hair covering her face.

_How...how..._

"Hey, Narusegawa, are you okay?" Keitaro asked.

_How dare they..._

The dark lake was gone from Naru's soul. Instead, a raging firestorm took its place. A fire that burned brigher than the brightest star--a great and roaring fire. Naru wasn't just mad....She was _furious_. All the hatred of the world could not compare to the fire in her heart.

Yes, she was quite pissed off tonight. The fire within her heart--the hellish inferno--wanted to burn something, incinerate something--someone--to the very bones.

"Hey, Narusegawa!" Keitaro said, raising his voice a little.

"Oh, yes?" Naru replied, standing up and facing Keitaro. The fire was dulled for the moment.

"Well, I just want to tell you that I'm finished here, so I have to go."

"What? W-Why?"

"Cause spirits like me can't stay in the normal world for too long. Something about soul energies disrupting the flow of something...aw hell, the angel who explained it to me had half of his mind elsewhere."

"B-But, you just came here! Can't you stay a little longer? Can't you work something out?"

"Sorry, I can't."

"No! You can't go! You just can't!!" Naru cried, grabbing onto Keitaro as if her life depended on it.

"Narusegawa, I--"

"_Please!!_" Naru latched onto Keitaro in a full hug. "Please...please don't leave me..."

"Narusegawa..."

Keitaro slowly wrapped his arms around Naru again, the latter sobbing slightly. He rocked her gently from side to side.

"I'm so sorry. I would've done anything to come back to life if I could. I really miss you all...and you most of all. You're the most important person in my life. I want you to know that."

Naru's eyes snapped open at the last statement and she weakly replied, "Yes." Did Keitaro really mean it? Could he be implying that he...

Suddenly Keitaro started levitating off the ground, as if he was being carried away by some kind of wind.

"Keitaro! Wait!!" Naru shouted as Keitaro was lifted away into the air.

"My time's up, Narusegawa! I'm sorry!"

"Please!! Wait!!"

Naru began running after the flying figure, calling out to him above the wind that was picking up strength around them. She ran through the forest, jumping over logs, dodging trees, never loosing sight of the figure in the air, before finally breaking out of the edge of the forest and into a clearing overlooking the city. Keitaro was high in the sky.

"Keitaro, wait!! Don't leave me!!" she cried out, a hand reaching out towards the sky.

"Narusegawa!" Keitaro yelled back. "I'm sorry...and I love you!!"

Naru dropped to her knees, her hand still outstretched. Keitaro's body faded farther and farther into the distance before disappearing from view.

The forest became peaceful again as the wind died down. A few crickets began chirping and everything became normal again.

Naru knelt there in the clearing, gazing up at the sky wistfully.

"Keitaro..."

* * *

Author's Note

Whew, got this chapter finished! Sorry for taking this long; I had a bunch of school-related stuff to do also. I really hope this chapter meets your expectations. Thanks again for reading!


	4. Chapter 3

**Death of an Angel**

By, Shinova

Chapter 3

After Naru had gone after Keitaro as he flew into the forest, Kitsune had whipped out three flashlights and proposed that Motoko and Su follow her after them. Motoko had protested at first, but relented after Su agreed to Kitsune's plan. After all, someone had to watch out for the two.

Motoko stepped over a log as she watched her surroundings. The darkness of the woods seemed somehow especially intimidating this night. Yes, she had trained during the late evenings before, but the forest had never seemed this...dark before. No--it had to be her imagination running wild. She knew the difference between real fears and imaginary ones.

"_Hahahahahahaa!..._"

The laughter sent Motoko's hand flying to her sword. Kitsune and Su froze in their tracks, hair on ends. Each watched with wide eyes as a figure approached them from far away. When the figure was close enough, the three sighed in relief to see that it was only Naru.

"Hey Naru! How did it go?" Kitsune called out.

Naru looked up and saw the three. She smiled and Motoko's soul froze.

"Oh, it was great. We got to apologize and make up for things we did wrong, then we parted. Smooth as that," Naru replied cheerfully.

"Naru-sempai, are you alright? Did Urashima do anything to do?" Motoko asked.

"Oh no! Keitaro was just so sweet," Naru answered Motoko's question, still smiling.

"Sweet?" Kitsune perked up at the word. "Did you just say sweet?"

"Nevermind about that, Kitsune." Naru's smile disappeared and a blush crept up her face. "And it's _freezing_out here! Let's get inside."

The others agreed and headed back to Hinatasou. Along the way, Motoko noticed that Naru had slowed her pace gradually to put herself behind the others, following them as they walked back home. A feeling of intense uneasiness compelled Motoko to look behind herself. Naru smiled happily back at the kendoist. Motoko nodded and faced forward again.

Motoko could swear that for just a moment, a moment so short that only people with experience like herself could catch, there had been a glare...

_No._ It was just her imagination running wild again. There was no reason why Naru would be angry with any of them. Even the smile; that had to have been the forest affecting Motoko. Perhaps the others were right, and that she needed to take a break and relax a little.

Motoko, her paranoia dispelled, walked back to Hinatasou with the others. Later she turned in for the night. Her mind clear and free of tension, she fell asleep swiftly.

She never heard her heart screaming.

* * * * *

If one had taken the time to climb those long stairs and stand in front of Hinatasou, that person may have felt, almost through his or her skin, the silence that hung over Hinatasou. Silence that seemed to be immersed in the air like a cloud of black paint spreading through a glass of clear water. A silence that numbed the soul to the core.

The three old men gazed up at the now dark Hinatasou. One of them sighed and lowered his head, his eyes shut.

"The power of truth is truly amazing...." he said. Then one by one they disappeared into the mist.

* * * * *

It was well past breakfast and Naru was on the phone. She dialed a number and waited for an answer.

"Hinata Hospital, Dr. Ishikawa speaking."

"Hi, this is Narusegawa Naru--a friend of Urashima Keitaro. Are you the one who operated on him?"

"Yes, now I remember. And you were one of the girls in that waiting room..."

"I'm the one who went psycho."

"Oh....Well, what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering, has the autopsy report come in yet?"

"Ah, yes, the--um--autopsy report....Yes--yes it has come in. Took a while though."

"Can you summarize the cause of death?"

"Poison. Well, not poison to be exact. Spider venom."

"Spider venom?"

"Yep. Must've bit him while he was asleep. We also found traces of it in his ear. Wonder how it got there...."

"I see...."

"Well, that's about it. Anything else I can do for you?"

"Nope. Thank you so much for your help."

"You're--ah--welcome."

Naru hung up the phone and leaned against the wall. Her back slid down the surface and she sat down. She hugged her knees to her body and lowered her head, her face out of sight.

"So it's true...."

* * * * *

Kitsune strummed her guitar lazily, listening to the notes ring softly through the room.

Naru seemed to have gotten over her depression. Her demeanor had certainly become more cheerful, and the whole household was, as a consequence, more relaxed as well. Perhaps life was returning to normal. Or could it?

Kitsune set her guitar down and walked up to her window. She gazed to her left at the forest, listening to the birds chirp and watching the sunlight cascade through the treetops. Peace...quiet....A result of the Keitaro's absence. Maybe some chaos in their lives had been a good thing. Kitsune certainly enjoyed it. Naru had seemed pissed off by it sometimes and Keitaro usually looked as if he were wishing that it would all stop--being the focus of it all.

Strange....The world outside seemed to have become more beautiful than it had ever been. Certainly it couldn't be because of Keitaro's passing. He had been a great person, even if he hadn't the coolest of guys. Maybe the world was moving on, and as a result, was doing its best to look beautiful. Kitsune thought about this for a while. Could the world, with all of its creatures, including people, be actually one collective entity, moving through the giant, endless circle of life as one?

Kitsune breathed in the fresh air. Even the air seemed more rejuvenating that it usually had been. It was as if the world was coming alive. Sure it was already living--in a metaphysical, philosophical sort of way--but it just seemed even more alive now than before.

Kitsune laughed. "What the hell am I thinking?" she muttered to herself, shaking her head in amusement. There she was, standing at her window, gazing at the world outside...thinking. Perhaps way too hard for her own good. She turned away and went back into her room.

Someone else, Keitaro perhaps, might have instead said that the world knew it had taken the life of something great, and was doing its best to make up for it. Make up for the ones who had cared the most for the lost one.

* * * * *

Haruka wished she had known her nephew better. That had been the first thing to come to her mind when she had fully accepted the news, and it was what she was thinking now as she was wiping the dust off some furniture in her teahouse. Sure she knew him--but she hadn't taken the time to _really_ get to know him. Every time she saw him having fun with the rest of the Hinatasou tenants, she had been at the outside....Like an adult watching over children.

Haruka paused in her work to stretch out some kinks in her arms. Her eyes caught a couple walking by the teahouse outside. They were laughing together. The woman was holding a notebook of some kind away from the man, who was trying to retrieve the object but was failing to do so. Occasionally the woman would giggle and point at something in the notebook; and the man would look embarrassed and plead to the woman to give him back his notebook. 

Haruka could, at that moment, imagine Keitaro and Naru in the place of the couple. Even after they passed out of her view, she could still, in her mind's eye, see the two walking together. Keitaro and Naru--Naru teasing Keitaro while he struggled to get his notebook back, although deep underneath he was actually enjoying all of it. Perhaps they would be on their way to Toudai and Naru was teasing Keitaro over something embarrassing he had written down in the notebook--his diary most likely. The couple and Naru and Keitaro. A pair of adults and a pair of children. When placed over one another, Haruka couldn't tell the difference.

Haruka sat down and sighed, a hand to her forehead.

If only she had been with the kids as they had whatever fun it was they were having at the moment. If only she had gotten to know Keitaro better, and not just be an aunt. Perverted minds all over would probably have something to say about her line of thinking, but that was not what Haruka meant.

She truly wished she had known Keitaro better....So that she could fully appreciate the person he had been.

* * * * *

Shinobu, with Tama-chan on her head, Sara, Su, and Motoko were all on the patio, enjoying the weather in their own ways: Shinobu doing the laundry, Sara and Su doodling on a sketchbook, and Motoko training. The weather was strikingly beautiful. That, combined with Naru's recent break from her depression, helped each girl go through her routine with a measure of happiness that had been sorely lacking the past few days.

"Hey, you're drawing over the line!" Sara exclaimed when Su doodled into her side of the paper.

"Line? What line?" Su replied, grinning.

"Oh, you! Here, take this!" Sara attacked Su with her pen.

"Oh yeah!?" Su retaliated, and soon the two giggling girls were covered in pen marks.

"Kaolla-san! Sara-chan! You're making a mess out of yourselves!" Shinobu exclaimed, waving her arms, trying to get the two to stop.

"Ah, let them be, Shinobu-chan. People should have at least some fun in their lives," Motoko said as she made her practice slashes through the air.

"Well, can't the same--"

"Apply to me?"

Shinobu nodded. Motoko stopped and smiled. "Yes, that is true. Which is why I am cutting my session early today."

"You are?" Shinobu asked, and Motoko nodded.

"That's a first," Sara commented during a pause in the doodle-war between herself and Su.

Shinobu finished her laundry and Sara and Su packed up their pens and sketchbook. The three, plus Tama-chan, then followed Motoko down the stairs and back inside Hinatasou. They were walking down a hallway when Motoko spoke up again.

"I must confess that I didn't really mind Urashima's presence that much at all," the kendoist said.

"Even when he peeped?" Su asked the obvious question.

"Well...that's a different story. But besides that, he was...a marginally acceptable man...even if he was a coward and a weakling."

"Please, don't be so harsh on Urashima-sempai." Shinobu said.

"Well," Motoko said as the group approached an intersection, "he did teach me one thing: that training isn't everything, and that one should take a break once in a while and have fun sometimes."

An object flew out from around the corner and struck Motoko on the head, sending her crashing into a wall. She slid down its surface and came to a rest on the floor, sprawled and unconscious. The others inched backwards in fright as the attacker stepped out from around the corner.

"I'll be back for you, Motoko-chan," Naru said in an eerie voice, a frightening smile on her face and the sheathed Hina blade in her hands. She turned to look at the three younger girls, who were backing away, eyes wide with terror.

"Now, speaking of fun," Naru continued, gazing down at the girls, her eyes wide-open with a wild, frenzy-like intensity in them. "Why don't we play a round of tag? Hmm? What do you think?"

Naru raised the Hina blade into the air and the girls ran screaming. Naru chased after them, shouting, "I'm _it_ and I'm coming! And I _will_ find you! And when I do, not even death will save you!!"

* * *

Author's Note :

I finally finished this chapter...but I feel as if I haven't put in as much effort as I should have! 

I think I'll probably end up rewriting this chapter some day. Until then, I hope you somewhat enjoy my chapter, even though it doesn't stack up well with the previous chapters in my opinion.

Boy, do I feel bad....I'll try to make it up somehow, either with the rewrite or the future chapters.

And you'll probably be wondering why the Hina blade was sheated. Well, if it wasn't then Naru would've been possesed by the ghost in the sword, so Naru left it sheathed and is using it like a staff/club.


	5. Chapter 4

* * *

From the author

This chapter has a brief instance where some harsh language is used. It's R-rated level but it's only a couple of lines. Hence I'm going to keep this story PG-13 but just wanted to let you all know about it beforehand.

* * *

**Death of an Angel**

By, Shinova

Chapter 4

Naru's manic laughter rang down the hallway after the three girls as they ran for their lives. Su gestured and the other two followed her around a corner and down another hallway. She suddenly stopped and with Sara's help removed a wall covering, revealing one of Hinatasou's secret passageways. The three dove in and replaced the covering just as Naru rounded the corner.

"Oh my God, help us---" Shinobu whimpered.

"Ssh!" Su silenced the others as they heard the footsteps run toward their position. Each waited tensely as Naru ran closer toward where they were. They were relieved when the footsteps passed the wall covering and went further down the hallway away from them.

"Thank goodness for these things," Sara commented, glancing at the passageway she and the others were in.

"Do you think Naru's playing tag?" Su wondered out loud.

"Would she play tag with a sword?" Sara answered, rolling her eyes.

"Umm, can we go?" Shinobu softly spoke up.

The other two agreed. Soon the three were crawling on their fours through the narrow passageway, feeling their way through the dark.

* * * * *

Naru ran back the way she had first come. She had not seen the three when she had rounded that corner, therefore they must have had either hidden somewhere or gone down a different path.

"Where the hell are those brats?" she growled through clenched teeth as she retraced her steps.

_They're going to pay....They're all going to pay!_ Naru thought vehemently as she stomped through the hallway.

Something in the corner of her eye caused Naru to stop abruptly. She looked closely and saw that a covering on the wall was loose. She reached out with a hand and pried the covering off the wall.

"Aha, so that's where you little kiddies have gone," Naru said gleefully as she gazed down the dark passageway. She stooped to crawl into it, then stopped. Instead she replaced the covering and ran down the hallway. She had an idea as to where the passageway led.

* * * * *

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Shinobu spoke up from behind the group as they crawled through the passageway.

"Beats me," Sara replied.

"Yes I do cause I've got on night vision goggles! See?" Su turned around to show off her night vision goggles to the other two.

"It's dark; we can't see them," Sara said.

Su tapped her goggles, the sound convincing Sara and Shinobu that Su wasn't simply making it all up.

"Anyway, we have to go this way. Keep close!"

The three crawled on, Sara and Shinobu following Su by sound. At last Su told the others to stop.

"I found an exit! Hang on."

The others gathered around her as Su pushed open the wall covering. They were in the living room. Sara crawled forward towards the opening.

"Ah, finally some ligh---_ack!!"_

A hand reached down from above and grabbed Sara by the cuff of her shirt and lifted her off ground.

"Oh _you_ Sara-chan! Thought you could get away with all the times you tormented Keitaro, eh?" Naru said, a creepy grin on her face. She cocked back a fist, ready to smash the American's face.

"Let her go!" Su yelled, leaping into the air and lashing out with a kick. The attack freed Sara from Naru's grasp and sent the latter sprawling to the ground. "Come'on, let's run!" Su helped Sara to her feet and they ran, followed closely by Shinobu.

Naru uttered a string of curses as she got to her feet. She picked up the Hina Blade from where she had left it against the wall and pursued the three children once again. Perhaps she shouldn't have been so direct in her method, but it was too late now. They were going to pay, even if it took her the whole day to get them all.

"You insolent brats are gonna pay for that!" Naru shouted after the kids as she chased after them.

"Crap! What are going to do!?" Sara yelled as she ran.

"I know!" Su exclaimed, pulling out a remote control-like device. "Mecha-Tama 2, attack!"

Su pressed a button and Mecha-Tama flew inside through a window up ahead and headed for Naru. It powered up and fired a red beam. The attack zipped past the three children's heads and shot towards their pursuer. Naru skidded to a stop and swung the Hina Blade hard, swatting the beam aside, sending it impacting against a wall nearby, destroying it. Mecha-Tama flew on, headed straight for Naru's forehead. The girl saw this and swung the sword hard again, batting the machine aside like a baseball. It smashed into the floor and ceased all movement.

"Nice try, but no passing that exam!" Naru shouted. She chased after the three girls again, grinning wildly.

The chase finally ended up at a dead end. The three girls had nowhere to run. Naru stood in front of them, smiling.

"Ha, finally got you cornered! You're not getting away this time!" she said menacingly.

"N-Naru-sempai, why are you---" Shinobu began to ask.

"Ha, pretending that you know nothing, eh? Well I won't be fooled, and you will _pay_ for what you've done!" Naru replied, shouting the last bit at no specific person, holding the sword in front of her. She took a step forward...

"Hey, guys! What's going on?" a voice called from behind. Naru quickly hid the sword behind her back as she whirled around to see that Kitsune had found them. "I heard a bunch of yelling around here. Were you guys arguing or something?" Kitsune asked, stepping forward toward the girls.

Sara suddenly spoke up frantically. "Kitsune, watch out! Naru's trying to kill us!"

"Eh?" Kitsune glanced at Naru, who had a confused expression on her face. Kitsune turned back to the three younger girls. "What are you talking about? You're not trying to play a joke, are you?"

Kitsune walked past Naru toward the three girls. Then the three's eyes widened and Shinobu cried, "Look out!"

Kitsune spun around so fast that she lost her footing. This misstep saved her head from being cleaved open by the Hina Blade's downstroke. Kitsune fell to the floor and crawled backwards away from Naru.

"Naru! What are you doing!?" Kitsune asked, now filled with panic.

"Just doing something for a friend who's passed away recently," Naru replied, edging closer.

Su reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a small, spherical device. She pressed a button on it and a small, red light began flashing on top of it. She then tossed the device toward the ground next to Naru, who saw the device hit the floor beside her.

"Huh?" was all she got out before the device exploded, filling the hallway with smoke and sending Naru crashing through the wall and outside. Kitsune got up to her feet shakily and asked, "What's happening?"

"She's trying to kill us, that's what's going on!" Sara exclaimed with some annoyance.

Kitsune and the others crept up to the hole in the wall and looked down at the ground outside. They saw Naru unconscious on the ground, her limbs splayed around her, her clothes singed, and the Hina blade a few feet away from her. The girls started to discuss what to do, whispering in fear of the unconscious Naru somehow overhearing them.

A groan stopped their conversation. Outside, Naru lazily opened her eyes and pushed herself up to a sitting position. She gazed around, dazed, then looked up and saw Kitsune and the others staring down at her. Her expression instantly turned to one of fury. She reached over and grabbed the Hina blade. Using it as a support, she pulled herself shakily to her feet.

"Bitches..." she whispered through her teeth as she gained her balance, never taking her eyes off of the Hinatasou tenants looking down at her.

Kitsune shivered, mouth slightly agape from fear. Naru's eyes were filled with so much hatred....Why?

"Bitches....You _God-fucking bitches!!"_ Naru screamed at her spectators, almost loosing her balance.

The other girls recoiled---not their bodies but their hearts. They had never heard such hateful words from Naru before. Why now?

"Naru...why?..." Kitsune said, quietly but loudly enough for Naru to hear.

"Why? _Why!?_ Why don't _you_ tell me why! God, you pitiful, arrogant, ignorant...you..." Naru held her head with her hands, covering her face, as if in pain. She breathed rapidly and deeply, body trembling._ "You think you can play ignorant with me!!?"_ she suddenly exploded, arms open, hands balled into fists, eyes filled with fury, and tears streaming down her cheeks._ "I'll show you ignorant, you monsters!!"_

With that Naru broke into a sudden sprint, heading for the nearest stairway into Hinatasou.

"She's after us again!" Sara exclaimed.

"This way! Come'on!" Su called to the others, and soon they were running for their lives again, this time with Kitsune tagging along as well.

While fleeing with the others, Kitsune's mind was in a muddled state of chaos and disbelief. The fury in Naru's eyes and that voice dripping with venomous hatred. What set her off? What motivation, what cause? Why? Why?

Su led the group down a hallway but skidded to a stop when they saw Naru running toward them from far away through a window. They picked the nearest secret passageway, where they hid, lips sealed, hoping to God that everything would be all right again.

* * * * *

Naru paced ominously through the quiet halls of Hinatasou, the Hina blade held in front of her. In its position it almost looked as if it were guiding its current owner on a quest.

For vengeance.

_They're going to pay! They're going to pay for taking him away!!_ These thoughts echoed through the depths of Naru's mind, compelling her to pursue the quest she was on at the moment, no matter how criminal it seemed. Out the corners of her eyes she would see Keitaro cleaning the dorm, studying, or laughing as he walked beside her. Every time she flicked her eyes in that direction to glance at him, he would disappear, as if he had never existed and were only a figment of her imagination.

But he was not a figment of her imagination. He was real...or had been real, thanks to someone---whoever it was.

Naru stopped and stood still, her chest heaving and her shoulders trembling. She suddenly lashed out with the sword, shattering a vase nearby, following with a fist that tore a huge gash in the wall. Naru crumpled against the wall, sobbing heavily. She dropped the sword and covered her face with her hands, crying into them.

How could anyone have had the heart to take such a person away? Without Keitaro, the world seemed to have fallen into an everlasting cycle of mourning: day to night, day to night, over and over again. All through that week, Naru had seen Keitaro at the corners of her vision, in her mind's eye, just beyond the thin veil of reality. She wanted to tear that veil apart so badly, but what would it take to break through? How much was she willing to pay?

Everything---that was how much she wanted to pay. Her falling tears seemed like tiny crystal lakes splashing onto the floor. Each was like the world, clear but difficult to see. Yes...she would pay with a million everythings.

She opened her eyes. To her left, just outside her field of focus, stood Keitaro, his hand stretched toward her, an expression of gentle concern over his face. Naru smiled but didn't move her eyes. If she did, he would disappear and her heart would be killed all over again by the reality of his absence. Yes, she could sit there forever, sitting against the wall, watching Keitaro speak to her from the corner of her vision---even though she couldn't hear him---reach out to touch her shoulder to comfort her---even though she couldn't feel him.

So much of the world in Keitaro---now gone with him. A hiccup reminded her of that as her eyes shifted slightly, erasing Keitaro from her vision. She broke into sobs once again, mourning Keitaro's 83rd "death". Yes, she had been keeping count.

After a few minutes, she wiped her tears and stood up once more. She brought up the Hina blade to eye level and gazed at it. It was sheathed at the moment, otherwise the spirit inside could posses her (this had happened before). She lowered it and began walking down the hallway again.

Keitaro's murderer was somewhere in Hinatasou. She could be anyone: Su, Sara, Kitsune, Motoko, or perhaps Shinobu. Maybe even Tama-chan. Eliminating them all would be easier than trying to hunt for the murderer in case she got the wrong person, and it would be guaranteed that the murderer would pay for her crime.

They had all been very good friends---even family to Naru, but they were a fair price to pay for avenging Keitaro's death. Perhaps she could face them with tears in her eyes, saying, _I'm so sorry but...this HAS to be done! I hope you understand and forgive me!_

Every time Keitaro "died" at the edge of Naru's vision she became more and more convinced of the horror of the crime. And the more committed to her mission she became.

To avenge.

* * * * *

Kitsune, Su, Sara, and Shinobu were in their niche inside the wall, fairly cramped, waiting tensely. Often they would try to somehow break the tension.

"So what's for dinner?" someone would ask.

"Miso soup with some---"

"Sshh!" another would interrupt Shinobu. "She might hear us!"

And so on they waited. Maybe they could've just gone out to see if Naru had lost them somehow. Or maybe they could make a dash for the nearest phone and call the police. But for fifteen minutes they stayed, in the dark niche in the wall.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Naru called. She was close.

The four girls in hiding immediately silenced whatever they wanted to say and ceased all movement. Some held their breath. Maybe they could even try to stop their heartbeats.

"I know you're here somewhere!" Naru called out again, smiling wickedly. "It's no use delaying the inevitable!"

Naru turned a corner and came upon a four-way intersection. She looked left, right, then forward. She cupped her mouth and yelled, "So which one of you was it? You know what I'm talking about!" Then she took in a deep breath then called again in a louder voice.

_"Where are you!!?"_

Shinobu accidentally caught some dust and sneezed. The others tried to quiet her but failed. The sneeze sounded through the wall covering, echoed through the halls, and reached Naru's ears. Her head spun to her left and she gazed down the hallway with narrowed eyes. "There you are..." she whispered. She then walked down that hallway toward where the sneeze had come from.

Inside the niche Shinobu was quietly sobbing. "I'm sorry...so sorry..." she whimpered.

"It's alright. It's not your fault," Kitsune said quietly, holding Shinobu in her arms.

"So sorry..."

_"There you are!!"_

Suddenly the Hina blade shot through the wall covering and between the girls. They shrieked, trying to avoid getting jabbed as Naru pulled the sword out, then drove it into the wall as hard as she could again and again. "It's judgment day for you!" Naru shouted. "And for what you've done, you're---"

_*BOOOM*_

The ki wave slammed into Naru and carried her through the wall behind her and outside. Motoko stood at the end of the hallway, a bandage around her head but otherwise looking more or less okay. The wall covering fell over and the girls hiding inside piled out. Thankfully no one was hurt.

"Motoko! You're all right!" Su exclaimed.

"My head certainly feels horrid, but otherwise, yes I am all right," Motoko replied, smiling a little.

Kitsune dusted herself off, trying to calm herself down after having been nearly skewered multiple times, then walked up to the hole in the wall. Naru had crashed into a tree at the edge of the forest then slid down to come to a rest on the ground.

"I hope she stays that way for a while," Kitsune remarked. The others came to stand beside her and looked outside.

"Hello everyone up there!" a voice called from down below. It was Mutsumi, with a sack of watermelons over her shoulder. "I just thought I'd come over, since everyone was probably so lonely...or maybe it was just me."

"Hi there," Kitsune called back. "We were in a bit of a mess and---oh my God, watch out!" She and the others panicked as they spotted Naru getting up to her feet again and grabbing the Hina blade.

Naru looked up and saw Mutsumi glancing back and forth between the other girls and Naru. _Yes, that ditzy, airheaded Mutsumi...her too..._ Naru thought as she walked, then sped up to a sprint toward Mutsumi, Hina blade poised to strike.

"Oh my! I think Naru-chan is trying to kill me! _Heeeelp!"_ Mutsumi screamed in a "Mutsumi-ish" way and dropped her watermelons. She then turned to run but accidentally stepped on a watermelon. "Whoops!" she exclaimed as she tripped and fell on her face. The watermelon flew through the air and smashed into Naru's head, splitting in half.

"Ow...wow, Keitaro," Naru babbled as her balance went haywire. "There's so many of you..." She then fell over and lost consciousness.

Mutsumi glanced this way and that, wondering if she had just missed anything. "Ara ara. What just happened?"

* * *

Author's Note

Behold, I have posted a new chapter! It's a miracle! O_O

Considering that I've been so slow to get to work on this, yeah it probably is like a miracle. Well, again I hope it meets your expectations. Oh and about the Hina blade: it's shown in episode 25 of the anime and volume 9 (I think) of the manga. It's a sword possessed by an evil spirit that Keitaro and Motoko use to try to defeat Motoko's sister. (Sorry if I accidentally spoiled anything for anyone)

Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 5

Note

For some reason, fanfiction.net's formatting system has gone haywire. Please bear with the problem until they get it fixed. Thanks.

* * *

**Death of an Angel**

By, Shinova

Chapter 5

Naru opened her eyes to find herself drifting in a limitless expanse of blackness. She looked around at the nothingness all around her then trained her eyes on herself. A source of lighting of some kind was shining on her, illuminating her, but she could not tell where it was coming from and why everything else was black---if there was anything else besides her in this place.

Someone gasped behind her. Naru somehow found her feet touching the "ground" again and turned around. Keitaro stood there, a short distance away from her, and around him in a circle were the unmoving, lifeless bodies of the other Hinatasou residents, along with Mutsumi, Haruka-san, and even Tama-chan. He gazed at each one of them, hands outspread as if pleading, a look of horror and loss etched onto his face.

Naru tried to step forward and approach him but no matter how much she walked forward she always stayed in one place. She stopped walking and called to him.

"Keitaro!"

Keitaro stopped and turned to look at her. He gazed at her with disbelief...and with sadness. Naru was confused. Was he not happy that she had avenged his death? Was he not satisfied that justice had been served? Why was he looking at her that way? Had she done something wrong?

Keitaro, arms limp at his sides, spoke one word, "Why?..." Then the world around Naru swirled and became blurry again. She felt as if she were falling down a giant pit, plummeting into a blackness without substance or depth.

Slowly though, her perception seemed to pull itself back into some framework of reality. She seemed to be sitting in a chair from what her addled sense of feeling could tell her at the moment.

"...have any idea why..."

"...the police? Maybe we..."

"...waking up..."

The myriad collection of voices coming from the room she was in assaulted Naru's hearing all at once. There was a splitting pain in her skull and it was doing nothing to help her make sense of what was going on. Gradually everything fell back into place and she could finally open her eyes and see the rest of the Hinatasou residents in front of her, gathered in a semicircle.

Naru's emotions turned from confusion to anger as she directed her focus to the people in front of her, banishing the thoughts of that dream/vision from her consciousness.

"What do you want?" she said, her voice low with venom.

"We were worried about you," Kitsune replied in a concerned voice.

"Heh....Worried...right."

"Why were you attacking us, Naru-sempai?" Motoko spoke up.

Naru stared at Motoko for a while, then turned away, chuckling.

"_Why_, you ask. Well I'm sure if Keitaro had been around he certainly would've told you why."

"What do you mean?"

"Keitaro didn't just die...he was _murdered_." Naru said, clearly voicing the word _murdered_. "The autopsy showed spider venom in his body, and his ghost told me about it too."

The truth had landed, and the other tenants stared in utter shock. "M---Murdered?" Kitsune tried to say.

"Oh my...that's not a fun way to die, is it?" Mutsumi said, her face paler than usual.

"No, it's not a fun way to die," Naru continued, "and I know another important fact, judging from what Keitaro told me.

"The murderer was someone living in Hinatasou---someone in this very room!"

The other tenants recoiled as if struck. They glanced at one another, back at Naru, then back at each other. None of them knew what to think.

"Keitaro told you this?" Kitsune asked.

"Yes...his ghost actually, but Keitaro nonetheless. You saw him Kitsune, Motoko, and Su. Remember?"

The three mentioned nodded in agreement.

Naru went on, "The murderer could be anyone here. Motoko, you are a very likely suspect here."

Motoko became indignant. "Wha---I would never---"

"Oh, spare me the honor junk. You, out of the rest of us, wanted him gone the most, calling him a pervert, a menace, whatnot." Naru then turned to face Kitsune. "Even you, Kitsune. No matter how unlikely, even you have had absolute capability to kill him." 

She then faced Mutsumi. "And you! You think your brainlessness can hide anything! You probably had some...jealousy-motivated reason or something-whatever to murder him!"

"Eh?" Mutsumi asked, confused.

"See! You pretend all the time!"

Naru then trained her eyes on Sara. "And you definitely had reason to kill him."

"Okay, so maybe I hit him a lot, but so do you!" Sara rebutted.

"Why would Keitaro have told me all this if I was the killer? Huh? Can you answer that?"

Sara became silent, then spoke again. "I never, _ever_, wanted to kill him. Period."

"Ha, right. Any of you could've killed him at the party. All of you had perfect opportunity to do so..." Naru turned her head to look at Shinobu, who recoiled under the other's gaze. "Even you!"

"Wha, wha, why would I---" Shinobu stammered, tears forming at her eyes.

"Don't play the innocent victim, Shinobu! You might have tried to fool us with all your cuteness and all but---"

"Naru-sempai!" Motoko interrupted.

_"Shut up!"_ Naru shouted. Then to Shinobu, "You pretend to be all nice to him, thinking we wouldn't notice, but _nooo_, deep inside you wanted to kill him for being what he was!"

"I-I never..." Shinobu stammered, tears flowing down her cheeks, her breath choked by sobs.

"Yes you did! Didn't you?" Naru continued, with a louder voice, _"Didn't you!!?"_

Shinobu suddenly wailed, "_I love Urashima-sempai!! I LOVE HIM!!!"_

Everyone stood still, shocked, as Shinobu fled from the room and ran upstairs, crying. Even Naru seemed to be in a state of shock. Motoko turned to face Naru, anger showing through her eyes.

"Naru-sempai, that was not called for," she said.

"Don't you think you might be taking all this too far?" Kitsune added.

"Keitaro was murdered. His death needs to be avenged.... It's the right thing to do," Naru said, staring at the ground.

"How is killing six people, _SIX_ _people_, the right thing to do!?" Motoko asked, shouting.

Naru did not reply. Motoko snorted in anger and disgust, and walked briskly out of the room. The other tenants filed out slowly, one by one, until only Kitsune remained.

"Keitaro's death is tragic and horrible," she said. "But that's no reason to go through all this. No need to make things worse for everyone. Just let things settle...I mean.... Things'll play out to their own ends in the end, on their own. I hope you get what I'm trying to say. Think things over, Naru."

Kitsune then left the room as well. A cloak-like silence fell over the surroundings as Naru sat tied to the chair, her head low. A few tears escaped her eyes and fell to the floor.

_Had she really been doing the right thing? What would Keitaro have said if he had known? Did she have any right to even attempt to do what she had tried to do?_

All these thoughts ran through her head, making Naru feel as if boulders were being placed on her shoulders, each putting more weight onto her already-weakened sense of self and dignity.

Tired, both mentally and physically, Naru eventually fell asleep.

* * * * *

Naru's sudden change in behavior had compelled the other Hinatasou residents to untie her and let her roam as she wished, mostly out of compassion's sake. Upon attaining her freedom, Naru had taken a bath, changed into cleaner clothes, and gone outside to take a walk through the city.

So there she was, trudging through the sidewalk, almost dragging her feet across the ground. Her complexion was pale and unhealthy. Even her hair looked unhealthy. Her shoulders sagged and her arms hung without strength. Hence, most people who passed by felt their gazes drift towards the strange, depressed girl. Out of compassion they quickly averted their eyes, but none could deny the air of depression that hung on the girl like a cloak of sadness.

Naru stopped at a bench and sat down; her legs had been beginning to ache from all the walking. She sighed, slouching down against the seat, eyes half-closed as if to block out all that had happened. Suddenly another girl about Naru's age walked over to the bench and sat down.

"Mind if I sit here?" the girl asked.

"No," Naru replied weakly.

The girl sat down next to Naru and gazed at the latter with concern. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes....Actually no...kind of," Naru replied. "What about you?"

"I'm doing okay, I guess." The girl then turned her gaze elsewhere, looking around at her surroundings. In her hands she held an envelope. Naru glanced at the card and raised one eyebrow. She sat up straight.

"What's in the envelope?" Naru asked.

"Oh this?" the girl, holding up the card. "Oh, it's nothing. Just something I have to give to someone."

"Boyfriend?" Naru asked, with a sly smile.

The girl panicked, raising her hands in defense. "No, no, it-it's just...someone, no one, that's all!"

Naru smiled. "Don't worry. You're secret's safe with me," she said.

The other girl sighed and gazed out in front of her at the street. "I was meaning to give this to him yesterday but I never really got the chance."

"What's he like?"

"Well, he's not the type of guy you'd expect a girl to sort of like. Sort of...well, most would call him a weakling but I don't think that. Well, I guess I wasn't all that nice to him either when we first met, but now...well..."

Naru's sobs stopped the girl. The girl looked as the other covered her eyes with an arm, trying to hide the tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Ah...is something wrong? Did I say something---"

"N---nothing...it's just nothing..." Naru replied, her words choked with sobs. She brought herself under control and wiped her tears. "I'm sorry. Go ahead."

The girl nodded and went on, "Well, I'm trying to get this to him now, but I'm not sure if he'll accept it at all. Most likely not. Maybe I'm just wasting my time."

The girl started to put the card in her purse when Naru suddenly reached out with a hand and grabbed the other's before she could put the card away. The girl stared in shock, wonder, and curiosity as Naru brought her tear-streaked face to the girl's.

"Listen to me, and listen to me closely. I was once like you, and had was given a chance at love like you do now. But I failed to see it in time and now I've lost everything. Please...don't make the same mistake I made. Give him that card. Trust your feelings, and don't be afraid. Don't let anything stop you, and most of all, don't give up."

Naru let go of the other's hand. The girl closed her purse and held the card in her hands, staring down at it, thinking about Naru's words.

A bus drove up to the sidewalk and stopped by the bench. The girl got up and turned to Naru. "This is my bus. I um...don't know what to say."

"You don't have to," Naru replied. "Just go, and give him that card. And remember what I've told you."

The girl nodded and smiled. "I will. Thank you."

Naru nodded in return as the girl boarded the bus. The door closed and the bus drove away, and eventually disappeared into the distance. Naru watched it go then sighed and got up.

"Hey, Naru!" a voice called from the side.

Naru looked around and saw Kitsune walked toward her with a grocery bag in one hand. "Kitsune? What are you doing here?"

"I'm shopping. And you look like you've been crying yourself a river again. You really need to stop drowning yourself in your sorrows."

"Yeah." Naru shuffled her feet around nervously. "And I'm, uh, sorry about...you know, back at Hinatasou..."

"Nah, forget about it. I'm pretty sure we would've all done the same if we were in your place."

"Really? You're sure?"

"Nope," Kitsune said humorously. "But what the hell, let's go take a walk."

Naru followed Kitsune as the two walked through the city, sightseeing the city, pointing out places they thought they'd never seen before. Naru almost couldn't believe that Kitsune, whom she had tried to kill just a few hours ago, was now walking side-by-side with her, casually, almost as if...things were still back the way they were in the old days.

Along the way, Kitsune brought up the inevitable question.

"So, Naru, what are you going to do now?" she asked.

Naru halted in her steps. She gazed down at the ground, as if to search for some answer in the concrete.

_Really....What did she want to do with her life?_

"I---I don't know..." Naru said after a long moment.

Kitsune nodded as if in understanding. "Take your time. Just remember that you don't have forever to decide."

Naru heard Kitsune's words and nodded in acknowledgement. Indeed, she didn't have forever to decide. This was a truth, and one she had failed to see in time when Keitaro had been alive. The same truth she had told that girl at the bus stop.

Yes. It was time she picked herself up and made up for that lost time somehow. But until then, the two walked side-by-side, through a park, and later arrived at a cemetery.

"Wow. Funny that we should be in a cemetery," Kitsune commented. She suddenly realized what she had said and exclaimed, "Whoops! I'm sorry about that, it just slipped."

"It's alright," Naru said. She walked forward through the cemetery, Kitsune following close behind.

As she walked, Naru said, "Hey Kitsune...I'm sorry for everything. Really."

"Hey," Kitsune said, spreading out her hands. "No problem with me. Like I said: we would've done the same if we were you."

"Now that I think about it, I could've just called the police or something instead of doing what I did. Why didn't it even occur to me to just...find help?.."

As the last bit escaped her lips, Naru remembered the dream she had experience, in which Keitaro had asked her the same question. _Why..._

"Why...why did I even think of doing that?" Naru went on, seeming to talk more to herself than to Kitsune.

"Well, I don't know, but maybe you felt that Keitaro's death should be avenged by someone close to him, not by a total stranger. Maybe. Just thinking," Kitsune said.

"Maybe. Kinda selfish, now that I think about it."

The two stopped in front of a pair of tombstones. Kitsune gazed down at them and read their inscriptions to herself. Her eyebrows lifted in interest and she said to Naru, "Look here. One tombstone of a hard-working, nice, and honest guy. The other, of a criminal. Interesting."

Naru knelt down and gazed at the tombstones. A criminal and an honest man, buried side-by-side as if through some strange hand of fate. The two seemed almost the same, by tombstone size and style of engraving. Only the names and inscriptions were different.

"You know something, Kitsune?" Naru spoke up. "Now that I think about it, these two guys are no different from each other than one tree is from another---in that both died and ended up buried. Sure, one was a nice guy and the other wasn't, but in the end result, both ended up in the same place."

"Except that one guy's probably in heaven and the other in hell," Kitsune added.

"Yeah. You can do what you want in life, but death---and ultimate justice---finds you, whoever you are, wherever you are, in the very end. And no matter what happened in-between, that final call on who you are and what you've done in life is what matters the most."

"You've become quite the philosopher, Naru," Kitsune said jokingly.

"Yeah," Naru replied smiling. "Point is, we're all the same humans, no matter who we are or what we do in our lives. No difference. Nothing."

The two stayed there, one kneeling, the other standing, both gazing at the two tombstones. Kitsune turned her gaze toward Naru and realized something.

"Naru, you've stopped wearing black. Thank God!" Kitsune exclaimed, raising her hands toward the sky as if to accept divine blessing.

"Yeah...I just noticed too," Naru agreed. Her clothes were mostly white now, completely opposite from the black she had worn all the way during the week to a few hours before. Her mind, heart, and soul seemed...lighter as well.

"Did you actually pick out those?" Kitsune asked, pointing at the clothes.

"No, they were the first one's I could find," Naru replied.

"Well, we should be getting home now."

"It's only, 3 o'clock though."

"Still. You've been out for two and a half hours, did you know?"

"Really? Wow...time flies."

"Yep. Come'on, let's go."

The two friends left the cemetery, talking about their high school days, joking about all the hilarious things that had happened during one birthday party, and much more. Much of the sadness had been banished away, it seemed. The future would never be like the good old days, but at least it seemed headed toward a bright destination of some kind.

Naru and Kitsune finally arrived at the end of the steps that lead up to Hinatasou.

"We should call the police first," Kitsune was saying, "and watch our backs while we're at it."

"Yeah, that's sounds about right," Naru replied.

"Hey Naru!!" Su called from the front door. She, Motoko, Mutsumi, and Sara ran up to Naru and Kitsune.

Naru composed herself, and said in a clear voice, "I'm very sorry for what I did back there. I wasn't thinking clearly and I've gotten over it now. I hope you can forgive me."

Motoko sighed and gazed at the ground, then back up at Naru. "Well, Naru-sempai...though I'm uncomfortable at saying so, I have decided to agree with the others on this. You are forgiven for the time being."

Naru felt her heart lift another step. "Thank you, thank you very much," she said, bowing.

"Come'on, enough moping around! Let's celebrate!!" Su exclaimed.

"Celebrate?"

"Yeah! Look!" Su picked up a backpack-sized contraption she had brought with her from the ground and showed it to Naru. "I haven't come up with a name for it yet, but this can bring Keitaro back to life!"

Naru's eyes widened in shock. "R---Really?"

"Yeah!"

Naru's thoughts became a storm of hopes and dreams. If this device could really revive Keitaro as Su claimed, then...they could all be together again. Naru could finally be more honest to her feelings regarding Keitaro. Everyone could be happy. They could return to the good old days, when joy had been reality and despair was only a figment of nightmares.

Suddenly someone shouted something. There was the sound of a chi wave slicing through the air. The Hinatasou residents leaped away barely in time as a black chi wave tore through the space between them, shattering Su's device in the process. The chi wave went on, tearing up the ground, until it smashed into a group of trees, causing them to twist and explode in a shower of wood.

Naru covered her head as a cloud of sawdust blew over her. She slowly looked up and saw a figure standing at the Hinatasou doorway, holding the Hina Blade, _unsheathed_. Her eyes widened in shock as her vision clarified and she saw who it was.

"Sh---Shinobu?"

* * *

Author's Notes

You may have noticed that I've taken out the disclaimer regarding Shakespeare and _Hamlet_. Well, at the very beginning of this story's creation, I had intended for this fic to closely share similar elements with _Hamlet_, but ever since then I've come to realize that it was highly unnecessary because the fic was taking a turn toward becoming a story that was more and more unlike _ Hamlet_. Hence, I've decided to remove that part of the disclaimer. After all, such similarities to _Hamlet_ could easily be called coincidence, cursory, or ambiguous, unlike the disclaimer regarding _Love Hina_ itself, which is a must for obvious reasons. The final part of the disclaimer is fairly enough to cover the _Hamlet_ portion.

Point is, the _Hamlet_ disclaimer became unnecessary. Know from this point on that _Death of an Angel_ is its own story, not a derivative of _ Hamlet_. Thank you.


	7. Chapter 6

I think I'll just say right now that writing block REALLY sucks. I'm pretty sure most of you have probably already lost most interest in this fic, but I've promised myself to finish this fic when I started it. So finally, it looks as if I've managed to pull through. I hope you enjoy this final chapter, and I hope you've enjoyed the story as a whole.

-- Shinova

* * *

****

Death of an Angel

By, Shinova

Chapter 6

The world and its processes seemed to have come to a blinding halt. Breaths were held, thoughts were frozen, and the framework of stability stood on a very thin line.

Shinobu stood in front of the Hinatasou entrance, Hina Blade in her grasp. The other tenants looked on in shock from a distance away. The thin line was being tread well.

"Sh--Shinobu, what--"

"Enough, Naru-sempai. Any more would simply be wasting more of what time we have left," Shinobu interrupted Naru, stepping forward a few steps into the warm sunlight.

Shinobu took a deep breath and said, "I did it, Naru-sempai."

"Did what?"

"Urashima-sempai...."

At first Naru was confused at what Shinobu could mean but then realized the truth. Shinobu had murdered Keitaro. Things were really on a fine balance now, as Naru struggled to accept the truth. It was unbelievable. It couldn't be. But Shinobu's tone of absolute conviction--and resignation--told otherwise; that Keitaro's death was in the hands of the one who had seemed the most unlikely.

Naru didn't know what to think. Or how to feel. Her hands felt like clenching, itching to do something harmful. Anger, disbelief, sadness, and indecision all trampled through her mind. She didn't know what to make of everything.

"Yes, I killed him. To save him from the rest of you," Shinobu said out loud, her expression taking on a slightly hostile look. "All of you...who took advantage of his kindness! His...everything..."

A tear ran down her cheek. _"It's all your fault!!_ You were all so cruel to him when he did so much for us! Why!? Why did you hurt him so much!?"

The other Hinatasou residents were beginning to feel some regret. It was true that they had sometimes been overbearing to their dorm manager. Perhaps they hadn't really meant to be that way, but that was a pretty weak excuse.

"I...we're sorry," Naru spoke up, lowering her head in shame.

"Sorry won't cut it, Naru-sempai!!" Shinobu shouted in return.

"Then what!!?" Naru yelled back, her sorrow and frustration culminating. "What gives you the right to assume that you couldn't possibly be a burden to him as well!!?"

"I wasn't...couldn't..."

"Why!?"

_"Cause I love him!!!"_ Shinobu shouted, her eyes filling with tears. _ "I loved Urashima-sempai!!"_

The other residents stared in even more shock. And then...

"So did I, Shinobu," Naru said in a worn-out voice. Her head was lowered and her arms slack at her sides. "I love Keitaro too. I think we all did, maybe not to the same degree as you and me, but we all loved him nonetheless."

"Then why'd you treat him that way!!?"

"I didn't know!! We all didn't know!! Now we've paid for it! What more do you expect us to do!!?"

Shinobu swallowed hard and raised the Hina Blade over her head.

"Apologize to him in person," she said calmly, then swung the sword down, the black spiritual energy flowing around her, then launching itself in the form of another chi wave, screaming toward Naru and the other fellow residents.

Naru stood shock still, but Motoko pushed her and herself out of the way. The other residents scattered also, and the chi wave exploded some distance behind them, throwing them forward. Motoko rolled on the ground and up onto her feet, slicing downwards with her sword, all in a single fluid motion. Motoko's own chi wave swept across the ground toward Shinobu...and hit the black energy around the latter, dissipating into nothingness.

"What the..." Motoko mumbled, a look of disbelief on her face.

Shinobu responded promptly by slashing sideways, sending a horizontal chi wave toward the tenants. The wave hit the ground in front of them, exploding and sending debris all over the place. The dust settled, and Naru found the other tenants unconscious. Behind her she could hear the sound of Shinobu walking toward where she was. She grabbed Motoko's sword, which was lay nearby, and jumped to her feet and ran for the forest.

Shinobu saw Naru running and chased after her, stopping only once to send a chi wave tearing through the trees toward its prey. Naru lept aside, barely avoiding the attack. She hid behind a tree, her chest heaving for breath and her hands shaking.

"What's the matter, Naru-sempai!?" Shinobu stopped running to call out. "What are you afraid of!?"

Naru stayed quiet, gasping for breath (mostly from things other than physical exertion). She brought one hand to her eyes, as if to block out everything that was happening around her.

"Why is all this happening?" Naru whispered to herself. "Why? What went wrong? Was it something we did?" She sniffled a little, shaking her head from side to side as if trying to convince herself that all this was just a bad dream.

A chi wave exploding somewhere nearby jolted her back to her senses. Shinobu was now throwing chi waves randomly in different directions--obviously in an attempt to drive Naru out from wherever she was hiding. One finally hit near where she was, sending her into the air, screaming.

Shinobu began sending chi waves one after another at the clump of trees where she had heard Naru scream. The foliage exploded as the waves hit. Through the dust, Shinobu could see Naru running away again. Shinobu followed.

The two eventually arrived at what looked like an abandoned building of some sort. With no time to come up with any creative ideas, Naru used Motoko's sword to cut the seal keeping the doors locked and kicked them open. She rushed inside and shut the doors behind her, then made her way deeper into the abandoned building, doing her best to cope with the dim light filtering through cracks in the ceiling. She was making her way down a hallway when she heard the door explode far behind her at the entrance.

"Are you in there, Naru-sempai?" Shinobu called out.

Naru started running down the hallway, anticipating black chi waves streaking after her at any second. Suddenly her foot caught a small hole in the floor, causing her to trip and fall forward. The floor gave way under her weight and collapsed. Naru fell a considerable distance and landed on wooden floor, the force of her fall causing it to shatter a little. The pain coursing through a her body made her grit her teeth, her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to deal with the agony. She pushed herself off the ground, clutching her stomach. A sharp pain made her cry out briefly, a tear escaping one of her shut eyes.

Shinobu thought she heard something coming from down one hallway off to her right. She readied the Hina Blade and jogged down the hallway, her eyes scanning left and right for any sign of her fellow tenant.

Naru heard Shinobu moving closer and forced herself to stand up, despite the searing pain. She coughed a few times as she struggled to walk. She eventually found the strength to jog with some difficulty, and went deeper into the place she had ended up in.

Shinobu found the hole in the ground and jumped down through it. The Hina Blade's power helped her land safely, slowing down her speed of descent. Once her feet touched the ground, she looked around the room she was in, which seemed to be a basement or storage room of some kind. Her eyes spotted a few droplets of blood leading off in a direction. Shinobu moved her sword into a ready position in front of her and walked in the direction of the droplets.

* * * * *

Naru leaned against against a wall, breathing deeply out of panic and exertion. She flinched as every breath brought a sharp pain from her ribs--perhaps one was cracked or broken. She felt something wet on her mouth and wiped at it with a hand. There was now blood all over her palm, and Naru's eyes widened a little in surprise. Her chest chest hurt, her arms felt as if they had splintered, and her legs felt as if they were on fire. That had been a nasty fall back there, and Naru was surprised she had the will to have walk this far.

Which reminded her, the room she was in looked like a warehouse of some kind. Boxes of all sorts of sizes lay in rows on the ground below her. She herself was on a metal catwalk, which stretched forward into the room over the boxes, turned left and connected to a door off to the side. _What could this room have been used for?_ Naru thought.

Her moment of thought was broken when she heard footsteps behind her. She glanced back to see Shinobu break out into a run, headed straight for Naru with the Hina Blade over her head. Naru's eyes widened in panic and she dashed forward across the catwalk, oblivious to her body protesting in pain. Shinobu held the Hina Blade in one hand and slashed downwards. The chi wave flew over the ground, tearing up the wooden planks underneath. Once it hit the catwalk, it begun to tear apart the struts holding it to the ceiling. The catwalk split into two pieces and caved inwards.

Naru, who had been headed for the door at the other end of the L-shaped catwalk, lost her balance and fell backwards, tumbling down the now-angeled catwalk before crashing into a box. Shinobu spotted her target and sent a chi wave barreling straight for Naru.

Naru only had time to blink before the wave smashed into the box, disintegrating it and sending Naru flying through the air. Her body smashed right through the wooden wall and into the next room. Her body rolled a few meters before coming to a stop against a railing, overlooking another room full of boxes upon boxes.

_"AAA--g--gh,"_ Naru cried out in pain then gritted her teeth in an attempt to deal with her condition, curling up in a fetal position, clutching herself. The pain was tenfold now, and she was now definetly sure she had broken a thing or two in herself. Blood was trickling freely from her nose and mouth. Yet, somehow she had kept a hold of Motoko's sword during the whole ordeal so far.

"Will you stop running away now, Naru-sempai?" Shinobu said as she climbed through the hole and into the room.

Naru opened one eye to see the other. "Why don't you..." she paused, gritting her teeth, "stop chasing me...."

"It's not my fault you're making me."

"Not my fault you took it the wrong way," Naru managed to say as she started to push herself off the ground, wheezing as she coughed. "Why don't you just accept that we didn't truly know how precious Keitaro was until it was too late?" Naru had now brought herself up to a standing position. The blood from her mouth had begun to stain her sweater.

"Well, why didn't you realize soon enough?" Shinobu accused.

"How could we? We're all just human. We're not perfect. We can't be expected to be held accountable for every mistake we make," Naru managed to say, despite her wounds and the pain.

"Yet, you hold yourself so above Keitaro all that time."

"Like I said, we're only human," Naru stated. Then, with a loud voice, "So why don't you just let it go and get on with life!!?"

"Without setting things right?_ Never!"_ Shinobu cried, dashing forward, Hina Blade raised above her head.

_Pain hurts....Doesn't mean you can't do anything,_ Naru thought.

There was a clash of steel, followed by a deathly silence. Naru had blocked the Hina Blade with Motoko's sword.

"You're almost dead and you're still moving, Naru-sempai," Shinobu observed.

"Just like the Toudai exam," Naru replied, pushing away from the other. Shinobu pulled back then advanced again, swinging her sword sideways. Naru blocked that as well, but fell backwards due to her weakened condition. Shinobu took this chance to switch her hold on the Hina Blade and drive the sword forward, into Naru's chest. Naru's scream of pain came out like a cross between a cough and a gasp. She fought back the searing pain, eyes clenched and hands trembling.

"It's over, Naru-sempai," Shinobu said.

"Not...yet..." Naru gasped through clenched teeth. A low growl from her throat became a scream as her body glowed a bright white. Shinobu's face took on a look of surprise as the the sword Naru barely held with her weak hands glowed white as well. With a sudden burst, a blast of white light flung Shinobu backwards, tearing the Hina Blade out of Naru's chest, the force of its removal lifting Naru slightly off the ground and causing her to arch her back in pain and shock and cry out. Shinobu flew backwards, smashed through the wooden railing and fell down toward the ground below.

Naru fell back ground beneath her. The Hina Blade lay somewhere out of sight and Motoko's sword lay a few feet beside her. She could feel her blood pumping out through the severe wound in her chest, smothering her shirt, sweater, and trickling out and soaking into the wood beneath her.

Thoughts and memories of Keitaro, Hinatasou, Toudai, and lots of other things flashed through her consciousness, each leaving its own imprint. As she lay there, alone and bleeding to death in a forgotten warehouse in an abandoned inn, Naru thought, _So this is how everything ends. Now I've felt everything, Keitaro. I hope you can forgive me...._

As the edges of her vision grew white and the world seemed to become engulfed in a blinding lightness that swept over everything, she thought she could hear a voice speaking to her.

_Nothing ever truly ends,_ it seemed to say.

_I forgive you...._

At that moment Naru lost consciousness.

* * * * *

Everything was white. The walls were white. The ceiling was white. The floor was, from what Naru could tell, also white. Everything was white, including the sheets that clung to her like masking tape. Only her skin, the parts that stuck out over the sheets, were something over than white. Even so, she could tell--barely through her muddled senses--that most of her body was wrapped in bandages. An IV dripped fluid into her arm, and a nearby, indistinct beeping sound belonged to the machinery that monitored her condition, measuring her heartrate, brain activity, whatnot.

"...missed her heart by a few centimeters...almost..." someone was saying. Naru couldn't really tell--everything was too white and bright. It was as if she had just been born again.

"Naru...feel..." someone was saying.

Naru tried to pinpoint the voice's owner and location but her mind was too blurred-over to actually think past those questions. Something was injected into her arm. Gradually, her senses clarified and her mind could properly think again. The doctor must've put a stimulant of some kind into her.

"Naru, you feel okay?"

"Naru-sempai..."

Naru glanced around the room and saw Kitsune, Motoko, Mutsumi, Su, Sara, Seta-san, and Haruka-san, all standing around her bed. Tama-chan floated nearby. She spoke out in a weak voice, "Where's Keitaro..."

Everyone fidgeted, each wondering what to say.

"Oh yeah, now I remember. It's okay everyone," Naru said, remembering. She then asked, "Where's Shinobu?"

After a moment, Haruka-san said, "She's in a different ward, under guard."

"Is she okay?"

"They say she has some broken bones, a few burns, but nothing that major," Kitsune answered. "She's a lot better off than you are right now, that's for sure--at least medically speaking. Charges are sure to be filed against her."

"I see," Naru said, nodding weakily. "What's going to happen to us?"

"No one knows yet," Haruka-san replied. "First, the two of you have to get better. Until then, we really can't do anything right now. Let's let her rest now."

The others nodded in agreement. Naru had so many questions to ask, but she really couldn't concentrate well and she did need her rest like Haruka-san had said. The others all said their goodbyes, their take-cares, and left the room. Naru was alone again. She would've liked to think over everything that had happened over all these weeks, but the stimulant was losing its grip and the blurry cloud descended over her mind once more. She decided to surrender to it for now, and lost consciousness again.

* * * * *

The days went by like a soft wave passing over everything. To Naru, it felt like she were floating face-up in a pool of water, the soft waves rocking her gently back and forth, carrying her from one day to the next. Day and night lost their distinction, blurred by the whiteness of the hospital ward, the food, and the television that played the same old news over and over again. Time once again seemed to have stood still, and the world seemed like a painting on a wall.

Naru was a fast healer. Two weeks in, and she was ready to travel around the hospital in a wheelchair. The third day after she first got into a wheelchair, she asked to be brought into Shinobu's ward. There was some opposition from the guard but eventually she was let in.

Shinobu lay on her bed, awake, parts of her bandaged like Naru was, an IV leading into an arm, but overall Shinobu was a lot better off than Naru. The nurse wheeled Naru over to the bedside, then left the room, closing the door softly behind. Naru and Shinobu found themselves staying that way for what seemed like a long time in uncomfortable silence. Both wanted to say what they needed to say but were afraid too.

Naru found herself saying, "How are you, Shinobu-chan," surprising herself with her suddenness.

"I'm fine, Naru-sempai. How about you?" Shinobu replied warmly, like she always used to do.

"I think I'm doing pretty well, even with everything I've been through."

The two fell silent again.

"Naru-sempai, I...I'm sorry about...what I did."

"Me too, for how I treated you guys--"

"No! None of this would've happened if I hadn't..."

Naru reached over and laid a hand on Shinobu's shoulder. Shinobu gazed at Naru with slight shock.

"I tried to take it out on all of you guys," Naru said gently, gazing down at the floor. "I was so consumed by his death, I...well..."

"But it's nothing compared to what I did!"

"You acted with the intent to help Keitaro. I acted out of hate. It's my fault too."

Shinobu laid back against the bed and sighed. "Everything's so complicated now," she said weakly. "I wish it were the way it was before...just simple...and all of us happy..."

The two sat there, silent once again.

"I wish we could go back to the way it was before," Shinobu said wearily, drained of will.

"We could try."

"But how?"

"I don't know. But if we try hard enough, with everything we've got, we'll make it."

"And we could be happy again..."

"Yeah...."

"You sound so sure about it, Naru-sempai."

"You don't know until you try."

Shinobu sniffled as tears again threatened to pour down her cheeks. _Enough with crying, what am I doing!?_ Shinobu thought vehemently to herself, trying to hold back her sobs. Naru noticed this, and moved over with some difficulty and brought Shinobu close to her into a warm embrace.

"It's okay. Let it go," she said softly.

Shinobu let go, and so did Naru. The of them cried together, holding each other, letting go of all the heart-wrenching emotions that had held them in an iron grip for the past week.

* * * * *

Charges were filed against Shinobu, and she, because she was a minor and because she seemed to have made a good impression on the judge during her trial, was sentenced to four years in a juvenile hall. Before she had been taken away, she had apologized deeply to all of the Hinatasou residents and swore to make up for everything somehow during her life. With determination to fulfill this newfound goal of her life, she left Hinatasou and the life she had lived in there.

As for Naru...

"Naru, are you sure about this?" Kitsune asked, watching Naru pack clothes into her suitcase.

"I need to take a break. Toudai's been the only thing on my mind for the longest of times, and now that it's basically gone, I have to go and find myself again," Naru replied.

"So, you're headed for America, right?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna travel around, cities, the country; see the sights, meet the people, learn new things. I need to get a fresh start, and I hope I'll find it somewhere out there--wherever my journey takes me."

"Keitaro would've gone absolutely nuts if he had known."

Naru smiled, gazing out the window at the blue sky outside. "Yeah, he sure would've."

The End


End file.
